Joseph Bediako, Convener, Movement For Truth And Accountability
About 1,200 local and international companies have been cited for their alleged involvement in money laundering, under-invoicing and tax evasion.
The companies are said to have included automobile company, frozen fish and chicken company, rice, sugar, spare parts importers, mineral water company, alcoholic beverage company among others.
These companies, according to reports, are currently being investigated by the Ghana Revenue Authority,(GRA) the Economic And Organized Crime Office (EOCO) and the Financial Intelligence Centre.
Some of the Chief Executives Officers have been invited by the investigating agencies to assist in investigating the matter.
At a press conference organized in Accra yesterday, Joseph Bediako, convener, Movement For Truth And Accountability,(MFTA) a pressure group said their investigations revealed that these indicted companies upon getting their request for Import Declaration Form approved to bring in goods to the amount requested but ended up importing much less than what they requested.
“This means that huge amount of money transferred to other jurisdiction solely for import purposes cannot be traced because the companies allegedly under invoiced, are involved in money laundering or refused to pay the required taxes,” he alleged.
He hinted that on August 6, 2020, MFTA officially wrote to Financial Intelligence Centre and Ghana Revenue Authority respectively over the conducts of the said companies, and the response they received was that the alleged companies were already under investigations.
He revealed that interestingly, those in charge of the companies involved in the dubious activities that are wrecking the state in getting its intended revenue for development are some Council of State Members, Members of Parliament, Media Practitioners, Church Leaders, Businessmen and a Senior Official of GRA.
“However, we are reliably informed that some of the investigating bodies involved in retrieving the said money are indicting the Ghanaian companies more than the foreign companies.
We are also reliably informed that some of the companies indicted are trying hard to bribe the investigating officials with tokens so that they avoid paying the resulting charges for the wrongs that they have been indicted for.
As a movement, we will not allow for foreign companies to be left off the hook and Ghanaian companies indicted, or officials bribed “he warned while addressing the media.
Joseph Bediako hinted that the current management of GRA was working assiduously to ensure that those involved are brought to book and urged them to do more so that no company or individual take undue advantage.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey