Cecilia Abena Dapaah
The Office of the Special Prosecutor is collaborating with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), as it extends its investigations into lawfulness of assets acquired by former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah and her associates in the United States of America.
The FBI is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency.
The OSP, in a statement yesterday, indicated that its office and the FBI through the US Embassy in Ghana “have initiated concurrent inquiries into the activities of Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, and her associates.”
“These investigations primarily focus on examining their assets and financial transactions within the United States of America. This collaborative effort is to ascertain the lawfulness of Ms. Dapaah and her associates’ wealth, both in the context of their funds transitioning from Ghana to the United States and vice versa,” the statement added.
The OSP arrested Madam Dapaah on July 24, 2023, on suspicion of corruption and corruption-related offences after she and her husband, Daniel Osei Kuffuor reported huge sums of money was stolen from their home by their two house maids.
The two maids, Patience Botwe and Sara Agyei as well as five (5) other accomplices are currently standing trial before an Accra Circuit Court for stealing a total $1 million and several millions of Ghana Cedis from the home of the former minister.
She resigned from her position as a Minister of State on July 22, 2023, after several calls by the general public on her to step down after a revelation of the huge sums of monies – both in Ghana Cedis and other foreign currencies were reportedly stolen from her matrimonial home.
The Office has filed another application for confirmation of seizure of $590,000 and GH¢2.73 million found in her home and the freezing of her seven bank accounts after an earlier one was dismissed by an Accra High Court for not complying with the rules.
Her lawyers subsequently filed a motion for abridgement of time asking the court to hear the case earlier than the October 18, 2023 which was the return date.
Court Showdown
The court, presided over by Justice Edward Twum, yesterday granted the application to bring forward the hearing date of the application for the OSP’s application for confirmation of freezing and seizure.
Moving the motion yesterday, her counsel, Victoria Barth indicated that the crux of the application was premised on the fact that the delay in determining the OSP’s application is causing undue hardship to Madam Dapaah and her husband.
She said the OSP had already been served with the former minister’s affidavit in opposition to the application, hence the Office will not be prejudice by an earlier hearing.
Ms. Barth said they received the OSP’s opposition yesterday and the “gist of the opposition is that they intend to file a supplementary affidavit in support of their ‘repeat’ application for confirmation orders.”
She said it behoves the OSP to exercise reasonable diligence and expedition in applying to the court for leave to file supplementary affidavit.
“The emotive language in the affidavit in opposition filed October 10, 2023, leaves no doubt that the opposition is merely for soothing the bruised ego of the respondent (OSP). It is motivated by bad faith and does not take cognisance of this court’s power to abridge time,” Ms. Barth argued.
She said the court has jurisdiction to reduce or abridge time in the interest of justice, and therefore prayed the court to exercise that discretion in favour of her clients.
Opposition
The application was opposed by Esther Tetteh, an attorney at the OSP who argued that the application for abridgement of time was riding on a misconception that the substantive application is a mere repeat application which is in no way the fact.
She said the substantive application is a fresh process unfettered by any prior considerations.
“Based on the misconception of the applicant, their posture is that since the application in their understanding is a mere repeat application, their success in that application is already sealed and as such the court should not be in serious consideration of the substantive application,” she stated.
She added that the OSP has filed for leave to file supplementary affidavit and therefore urged the court to dismiss the motion for abridgement of time so that the court can have the full complement of the substantive application.
Ruling
Justice Twum, in his ruling, indicated that the longer the application lingers, the longer the hardship on Madam Dapaah and her husband.
He said the OSP re-seized the funds and refroze the accounts on September 5, and the current application was filed on September 11, 2023 with a return date of October 18, 2023, which is more than a month after the filing of the application.
He said the court would grant the motion for abridgment of time in the interest of justice, fairness and expeditious trial and hear the substantive application today.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak