Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid
Two persons charged for their alleged roles in a GH¢291 million extortion scheme have cut a deal with the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to testify against former Chief Executive officer (CEO) of National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid and seven others.
Albert Ankrah, a Director and shareholder of Propnest Limited, one of the companies charged by the Office, had approached the OSP to testify as a prosecution witness in order to avoid criminal liability.
Just when the OSP was considering the request, Isaac Mensah, the Director and sole shareholder of Kings Energy also approached the Office seeking to testify as a prosecution witness.
“…After the last court date A5, Isaac Mensah, also accompanied by his lawyer from Mr. Thaddeus Sory’s office engaged authorised officers of the Office of the Special Prosecutor as a result of which appropriate documents have already been executed to enable not just A4 (Albert Ankrah) but A5 also testify as prosecution witnesses in the matter,” Adelaide Kobiri-Woode, a Principal Prosecutor at the OSP told the court yesterday.
She subsequently withdrew the old charge sheet which included the two as accused persons. The court struck it out and discharged the two, who looked relieved as they walked across the courtroom into the corridor.
The court then proceeded to take the pleas of the remaining eight accused, who all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Joseph Dindiok Kpemka, counsel for Dr. Abdul-Hamid, prayed the court to maintain the accused persons on the previous bail terms granted by the court differently constituted, in order to avoid the “laborious processes that accused persons have to go through in executing the bail.”
Lawyers for the other accused associated themselves with him but the court, presided over by Justice Francis Achibonga, said there was the need to give the sureties a chance to decide whether or not they want to remain as sureties for the accused.
He, therefore, refused the prayer and rather granted them a ‘new bail’ albeit with the same terms which must be executed again.
The bail sum was set at GH¢2 million each with two sureties to be justified. One of the sureties must be a public servant with a net salary of GH¢5,000, while one must deposit documents covering a landed property at the registry of the court.
The sureties are to deposit copies of a nationally recognised ID card at the registry of the court, while the accused themselves are to deposit their passports with the registrar.
They were further ordered to report to the lead investigator at the Office of the Special Prosecutor once every fortnight. They were also placed on the Stop List at all entry and exit points.
Justice Achibonga, however, acknowledged the difficulty in executing the bail, given the time of the day, and subsequently ordered that the accused remain on the old bail terms until March 26, by which time they must complete the execution of the bail terms.
Meanwhile, the court has ordered the accused to file a list of names and addresses of potential witnesses should they be called upon to open a defence. The trial was adjourned to April 15 for case management.
Trial
The OSP has charged the accused persons as well as three companies with 54 counts of charges including extortion by a public officer, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering.
The individuals are Jacob Kwamina Amuah, Coordinator of the Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF) at NPA; Wendy Newman, a staff of NPA; Bright Bediako-Mensah, a Director of Kel Logistics Limited and Kings Energy Limited as well as Kwaku Aboagye Acquaah, Director of Kings Energy Limited.
The three companies are Propnest Limited, Kel Logistics Limited and Kings Energy Limited, while a suspect identified as Osei Tutu Adjei, a Director of Kel Logistics Limited is currently at large.
The summary of facts indicate that investigations by the OSP show that between 2022 and December 2024, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, Jacob Kwamina Amuah and Wendy Newman under the colour of their office as officers of NPA, set up an extortionate scheme by which they unlawfully obtained GH¢291,574,087.19 and $332,407.47 from bulk oil transporters and oil marketing companies, which they knew they were not lawfully authorised to obtain.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak