Alfred Agbesi Woyome
The Supreme Court has ordered the state to go ahead and sell four properties of beleaguered businessman and National Democratic Congress (NDC) financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, to defray the GH¢51.2 million he fraudulently received as judgment debt.
This was after the court found that claims by defunct UT Bank that the properties belonged to them was “a sham” and a “collusion to hide the properties.”
They include three residential properties – two at the plush Trassaco Valley in Accra and one at Kpehe in Accra Newtown, as well as a quarry at Mamfe in the Eastern Region.
The properties according to Deputy Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, are estimated to cost over GH¢20 million.
Possible Prosecution
After the proceeding, Deputy Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, said the judgment was clear on the fact “Woyome attempted to collude with a bank to prevent the execution of the government against him.”
“To me, it’s an act that the state can take him on in terms of criminal prosecution and what have you. Clearly, this is something that I will consider prosecuting him for,” Mr. Dame said.
Identified Properties
The state in its efforts to recover the GH¢51.2 million the NDC financier fraudulently received as judgment debt, identified five properties belonging to Mr. Woyome each worth about $1.5 million.
However, moves by the state to confiscate the properties were truncated by claims by the defunct UT Bank that it acquired the properties from Mr. Woyome on April 5, 2013 and May 13, 2014, respectively.
The receiver of the bank, Eric Nana Nipa, in his witness statement to the Supreme Court, had said that the property at Accra Newtown was used by the businessman as collateral to secure a loan in excess of GH¢9 million from the bank.
He claimed that Mr. Woyome’s company is yet to repay the money, thereby making it difficult for the bank to pay its depositors and other creditors.
In respective of the quarry, Anator Holdings Company Limited had claimed that Woyome, who is the Executive Chairman of the firm, had released some landed properties of the quarry to the company to be used as collateral for a loan from UT Bank hence it cannot be confiscated by the state.
They also claimed that Woyome had transferred all shares in the company to Anator Holdings Limited.
AG’s Input
However, the state represented by Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Dame, accused Mr. Woyome and the bank of colluding to frustrate the state in its efforts to retrieve the money wrongly paid to the businessman.
According to the state, the residential properties and others identified belong to Mr. Woyome and the bank has no document to prove that it acquired the properties and others were used as collateral for loans.
Ruling
The Supreme Court presided over by a sole judge, Justice Alfred A. Benin, found out that the property was not sold to UT Bank and held that the claim was a sham and a clear case of collusion to hide the properties.
In respect of the quarry and its landed properties, the court found there was no evidence to show that Woyome had indeed transferred all his shares in the company.
It was the view of Justice Benin that the company is wholly owned by Mr. Woyome hence falls under the liable properties considered for confiscation.
He subsequently ordered the state to sell the three residential properties as well as the quarry.
The court awarded a total cost of GH¢120,000 – GH¢60,000 each against UT Bank and Anator Holdings in favour of the state.
Quick Auction
Speaking to reporters after the court’s ruling, the Deputy Attorney General stated that the state would by next week take steps to auction the properties to retrieve the money for the state.
Mr. Dame said the ruling affirms accountability and the rule of law “that indeed you cannot deprive the state of funds and then resort to all manner of tactics just to avoid the satisfaction of judgment debt given against you.”
Mr. Woyome, in 2010, was charged with two counts of causing financial loss to the state and defrauding by false pretences.
He was, however, discharged by an Accra High Court in 2015 by the disgraced Justice John Ajet-Naam, who was caught in the Anas Aremeyaw Anas bribery and corruption scandal that rocked the Judiciary.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak