William Matthew Tetteh-Tevie
The former Director General of the National Communications Authority (NCA), William Matthew Tetteh-Tevie, has denied money laundering in the purchase of the Pegasus cyber security equipment for the National Security Council Secretariat which has landed him and others in court.
Testifying at an Accra High Court yesterday after opening his defence in the case where he and four others are on trial for charges, including stealing, money laundering and causing financial loss to the state, Tetteh-Tevie told the court that he did not benefit financially from the purchase of the controversial equipment.
Led in his evidence by Godwin Tamakloe, the former NCA boss stated that it had been established before the court by prosecution witnesses, including the investigator of the case that “he never found any money in my bank account or he cannot establish any evidence that any of the accused persons gave me any funds.
“So it cannot be true that I have laundered any money because I have not received any money to be laundered. In fact, Dr. Anin, the Director of Finance who is the signatory to the account of the NCA, when asked in his evidence, he said as a seasoned accountant he would never transfer any funds without being sure about the authenticity of the request,” Tetteh-Tevie said.
The former NCA boss also denied the charge of causing financial loss to the state, saying, “If you look at the evidence that has been presented in this court, the funds from the NCA have been transferred to the accounts of IDL (Infraloks Development Limited) for onward transfer to ISO and none of it landed in my account. And the inspector did his thorough investigation, he did not find that the funds landed in my account for which reason they will say I misapplied funds. The equipment was paid for that was why it was shipped. So I could not have misapplied public fund for my personal gain.”
Tetteh-Tevie also told the court that the decision to purchase the Pegasus equipment started long before he became the Director General of the NCA and was only given handing over notes on the transaction when he took office.
“I was briefed on a lot of these things. So it was a project in motion before I got to the NCA.”
Again, Tetteh-Tevie told the court about how things that were not included in the NCA’s budget were purchased and ratification was later given by the board of the NCA.
The court presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffuor was also told by the witness how none of the accused persons during interrogation told officers that they had given him (Tevie) any money from the fund made available for the purchase of the equipment.
Trial
Tetteh-Tevie, the former Board Chairman of the NCA, Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie, Nana Owusu Ensaw, a board member of NCA; Alhaji Salifu Mimina Osman, a former National Security Coordinator and George Derek Oppong, Director of Infraloks Development Limited are being tried for allegedly causing financial loss to the state in the purchase of the cyber security equipment for the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) for counter-terrorism purposes.
The five accused persons are facing 16 other charges, including conspiracy, stealing, using public office for profit, money laundering, among others.
The amount complained of by the state was about $4 million.
By Gibril Abdul Razak