Former Finance Minister and Former 2nd Deputy Governor of BoG charged with money laundering, and causing financial loss

The former finance minister of the Republic of Ghana, Dr Kwabena Duffuor and the former 2nd Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Mr Johnson Asiama have been charged with money laundering and dishonestly receiving, and willfully causing financial loss to the state, respectively.

The Attorney-General (A-G) has dragged the two to court over the collapse of defunct UniBank.  The charge sheet signed by the Director for Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mrs Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, was filed at the Accra High Court on Wednesday, February 5, 2020. Other accused persons named in the criminal case filed at the Accra High Court are the son of Dr Duffuor, Dr Kwabena Duffuor II, who was the CEO of uniBank before it collapsed and other executives of the bank. The others are Ekow Nyarko Dadzie-Dennis; the Chief Operating Officer of the bank, Elsie Dansoa Kyereh; Executive Head of Corporate Banking, Jeffery Amon; Senior Relationship Manager, Benjamin Ofori; Executive Head of Credit Control and Kwadwo Opoku Okoh; Financial Control Manager.

The other accused persons have been slapped with several charges including fraudulent breach of trust, money laundering, conspiracy to commit crime and the contravention of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Act. The A-G has accused Dr Duffuor, who was also a shareholder of uniBank of using the HODA Group, to take money from the bank and “dishonestly” transferred the money which was depositors funds. It is the case of the A-G that Dr Duffuor and HODA group allegedly dishonestly received more than Gh¢660 million from uniBank.

The A-G has accused Dr Asiama of using his position as 2nd Deputy Governor of the BoG to approve the transfer of Gh¢300 million which was an unsecured facility from uniBank to Universal Merchant Bank (UMB). According to the A-G, Dr Asiama knew that uniBank was in financial distress but he allegedly went ahead to approve the deal.

Credit: www.graphic.com.gh