Fuseini Hamza being escorted by police officers
The Tamale High Court in the Northern Region, presided over by Justice Edward Apenkwah, has granted Fuseini Hamza, a staff of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), a GH¢300,000 bail with two sureties, one to be justified.
The lawyer of the accused, Abdullah, prayed the court for the bail.
Fuseini Hamza is expected to reappear in court on 22nd November, 2017.
Some family members who were at the court were excited about the bail granted Hamza and informed some family heads to come and complete the (bail) process.
The accused, who is an accounts officer at the Domestic Tax Division of the GRA in Tamale, was arrested for allegedly making away with GH¢310,909.96 belonging to the state.
Fuseini Hamza has been charged with two counts of stealing and money laundering and has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
The accused person, as part of his duties, was responsible for lodging moneys collected by the Authority into its various accounts.
In June 2017, the Northern Regional accountant of the GRA reportedly discovered during a validation exercise that there was a shortfall of GH¢310, 909.96 in the accounts of the revenue collecting entity.
When he was questioned by the accountant, Hamza said he lodged all the money into the account of the GRA.
The accountant followed up to the GCB Bank Limited to verify whether or not the accused had lodged the money with the bank.
After the checks, he (the accountant) was told that the GH¢310, 909.96 had not been lodged into the account.
Upon further interrogation, the prosecutor said, the accused admitted that he had not paid the money into the account of GRA, but rather, he used it to acquire personal property, including two plots of land, a house and a 4 X 4 vehicle.
The matter was reported to the police and Hamza was subsequently arrested.
FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale