Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid
The trial of former Chief Executive Officer of National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid and seven others accused of extortion and other offences has been rescheduled to August 27, 2026.
This is to allow the court time to await the decision of the Supreme Court on an application challenging the Chief Justice’s warrant permitting the court to conduct trials during the legal vacation.
Dr. Abdul-Hamid and seven others are before the court accused of extorting a total of GH¢291.574 million and $332,407.47 from bulk oil transporters and oil distributors.
The court had previously rejected requests by four of the accused persons to adjourn the case to October when the court officially resumes work after the legal vacation.
However, the court, presided over by Justice Francis Achibonga, yesterday adjourned the case to August 27 for continuation of case management, hoping the apex court would have determined the application for injunction filed by Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) had charged Dr. Abdul-Hamid and seven individuals 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; Albert Ankrah, Isaac Mensah, all Directors of Kel Logistics Limited; 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 charged by the OSP 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 OSP says the charges stem from investigations initiated by it in late 2024 into alleged unlawful conduct involving the diversion of public funds and collusion with oil marketing and bulk distribution companies.
The case is still at the pre-trial stage as the Office of the Special Prosecutor is still providing the accused persons with discoveries of documents it intends to rely on for the trial.
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 to testify against the other accused persons.
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.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak