2 Arrested over GH¢76,000 Fraud (Page 3)

Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah (Saturday, February 9, 2008)
THE Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) has caused the arrest of two government employees for allegedly misappropriating more than GH¢76,000 belonging to the state.
Nikoi Kotei of the Personnel Processing Unit of the Ministry of Health (MoH), who allegedly diverted a total of GH¢50,907.04 into a private account between November and December 2007, is in the custody of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) in Accra.
The second suspect, John Nyannu, who is the Greater Accra Regional Director of the Department of Feeder Roads, also allegedly embezzled GH¢26,000 and is in police custody.
Sources at the BNI and the Ministries Police confirmed the arrests and said the suspects were being investigated.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra, the Deputy Controller and Accountant-General in charge of Finance and Administration (F&A), Mr Abraham Mantey, said the two were arrested after initial investigations had been conducted into their activities by officials of the CAGD.
He said the investigations revealed that in November 2007 Kotei used the staff identification number of a former employee of the MoH in the Wassa West District of the Western Region to divert GH¢5,196.42 to a bank in Accra.
He said before Kotei could make the transfer, he had to re-activate the account, which had been dormant, with an initial savings of GH¢5 and added another GH¢5 later.
Throwing more light on the issue, the Head of the Payroll Division, Mr Seidu Kotomah, and his deputy, Mr Eugene Antwi Agyekum, said in December that same year, Kotei again transferred GH¢45,710.2 in the name of a former district director of Health Services in the Ahanta West District, also in the Western Region, into an account with a different bank in Accra.
Mr Agyekum said when the bank received the GH¢45,710.2 into that particular account, it became suspicious and drew his attention to it.
He said when investigations were conducted, it came out that Kotei waited for the CAGD to complete all checks on the payroll system for the months in question before effecting the transfers.
He said it was also noted that the suspect deleted the names from the payroll after the deal had been effected, adding that in the case of one of the persons whose data he used, he indicated that he was deceased.
Mr Agyekum said Kotei withdrew part of the money in the second instance.
Touching on Nyannu’s case, Mr Mantey said the suspect was involved in the sale of tender documents and allegedly embezzled the funds accruing from the sale.
He said in May 2007, it came out, after auditing, that Nyannu could not account for GH¢20,370 and later refunded GH¢3,300.
Mr Mantey said later, when auditing was conducted, it came out that the embezzled figure had risen from the initial GH¢20,370 to GH¢26,000.