The High Court in Kumasi has granted an application for an order of substituted service to commence contempt proceedings against the directors of FBN Bank Ghana Limited.
The applicants allege that the bank’s officials interfered with the administration of justice in an ongoing foreign exchange transaction case.
Presiding judge, Justice Franklin Titus-Glover, directed that the contempt application be served by posting it on the notice board of the High Court in Kumasi, at the place of business of FBN Bank Ghana Limited, and through a publication in the Daily Graphic.
The notice will remain valid for 10 days.
The application for committal for contempt was filed by Kwame Owusu Boateng and Kessben Travels and Tours Limited.
The applicants are seeking an order to commit the respondents, including the bank’s legal officer, Michael Gyan Owusu, to prison for allegedly misleading the court by presenting forged documents during the trial.
The contempt application arises from a substantive case before the High Court, presided over by Justice Anokye Gyimah.
According to the affidavit in support of the application, FBN Bank was engaged to facilitate the transfer of funds for the applicants by purchasing dollars from the account of Gadinesto Enterprise, with the bank acting as an intermediary. Although the bank received the funds from the applicants, it allegedly failed to execute the transfer.
The affidavit further states that during the trial, while the 15th respondent, Paul Senyo Zeloh, was being cross-examined as a witness for the bank, he testified that one Kwame Nkrumah, trading as Gadinesto Enterprise, was an importer of the goods and not a customer of the applicants.
Counsel for the applicants challenged this assertion, arguing that SWIFT copies confirming the successful transfer were issued to the applicants, not to Kwame Nkrumah.
Following a court order, the 15th respondent produced several documents on May 9, 2024, allegedly presented by Kwame Nkrumah trading as Gadinesto Enterprise.
However, after the parties had closed their cases, the applicants identified discrepancies in the documents and sought verification from the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The GRA’s verification on its ICUMS platform revealed that the Bill of Entry series (marked as Exhibit X series) did not exist on the platform and could not have originated from the GRA.
The GRA also confirmed that Kwame Nkrumah was not assigned to any tax office, leading the applicants to allege that the documents were fraudulently generated to deceive the court.
Regarding the bank’s legal officer, the affidavit contends that as an officer of the court, he had an obligation to present only factual and accurate information, particularly on the true status of Gadinesto Enterprise.
It stated that the legal officer should have advised the respondents accordingly instead of defending the position that Gadinesto Enterprise was an importer, especially after the GRA’s letter exposed the documents as not authentic.
The affidavit further stated that, having been aware of the fraudulent document in question and the fact that a public officer had confirmed that the said document did not originate from the GRA ICUMS platform, the lawyer, as an officer of the court, owed a duty to the court to verify the authenticity of those documents.
The affidavit also indicated that, despite being aware of these facts, the legal officer instead continued to represent the bank, even in the face of GRA’s denial of “the imposter status of Kwame Nkrumah, trading as Gadinesto Enterprise.”
The applicants are therefore praying the court to commit the respondents to prison for contempt, alleging that they have brought the administration of justice into disrepute.
A Daily Guide Report