The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame has hinted that his office will cast new light on major tax evasion and avoidance schemes in the country this year, calling on the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) to devise very efficient means of investigating such offences to ensure their able prosecution.
According to him, there is a pressing need for EOCO to focus efforts on the investigation of serious tax fraud, intimating that there could not have been a more appropriate occasion to call for a prosecution of “big tax offenders than now.”
“With the evident competition of many sectors for the nation’s scarce revenue, the situation where big companies and entities, including multinational firms operating in Ghana which are required to contribute significantly to the tax revenue of the state, understate or hide their true income in a bid to evade a satisfaction of their true obligations to the State, is unjustified,” he stated.
Speaking at the swearing in of members of the governing board of EOCO in Accra on Wednesday, the Attorney General said he had already indicated to the management of EOCO that the prosecution of tax offences by big companies, including multinational firms operating in the country, would “be a focus of my Office this year and the years to come.”
The new board is composed of men and a woman of very senior rank and qualification at the various institutions required to nominate in accordance with the enabling statute, the Economic and Organised Crimes Office Act, 2011 (Act 804), and is chaired by the immediate past Executive Director of EOCO, Stephen Raymond Dapaa-Addo.
Other members of the board are COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, DCOP Ernest Kwabena Owusu, Kenneth Adu-Amanfoh, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, Seidu Iddrisu Iddisah, Peter Kwasi Dadzie, COP George Alex Mensah, and Lt. Col. (Rtd) Ababio Serebour.
Crime Proceeds
The Attorney General continued that on his working visit to the offices of EOCO recently, he felt constrained to make a remark about the relatively “low record of money” it had recovered from the proceeds of crime.
“It is undesirable for perpetrators of economic crime to conceal or keep the fruits of their crimes against the people of Ghana. Such a situation breeds mistrust in the system and robs the nation of much needed revenue for the execution of lofty development projects,” Mr. Dame said.
In his view, the mandate to recover the proceeds of crime is one that places EOCO squarely in the position to contribute to the national purse by being a major generator of revenue, and therefore, implored the new board to formulate policies and superintend affairs of the organisation in a manner as to efficiently boost its recovery of proceeds of crime function under law.
“I consider three mechanisms stipulated in Act 804 to be very instrumental to the attainment of the object to recover the proceeds of crime. These are the search and seizure powers of EOCO under sections 24 and 25 of Act 804, the power to track properties under section 29 as well as the mandate to investigate tax fraud and prosecute same on the authority of the Attorney General conferred by section 3(a)(v) of your governing Act.”
He asserted that the property tracking mandate of EOCO, very useful for the identification and discovery of illicit property, requires cooperation with other institutions of state and relevant foreign or international agencies.
“I trust the board to assist the office to ensure a sound attainment of this all important function,” he posited.
Chairman of the board, Mr. Dapaa-Addo pledged the commitment of the members to discharge their duties in tune with their mandate, while expressing gratitude for the appointment.
By Ernest Kofi Adu