Woyome: Ray Smith, MPOWPAK and The President (Part 2)

…Investigative Piece On Ray Smith Secret Letter To The President

THE SMITHS, ALFRED WOYOME & MPOWAPAK:

Alfred Woyome is the Owner and Director of mPowapak Togo Sarl and the Smiths are Owners and Directors of mPowapak Ghana who distribute Red Bull in Togo and Ghana respectively. MPowapak Togo Sarl was incorporated within weeks of Alfred Woyome meeting the Smiths and funded solely by him; and within 2 months after meeting them, mPowapak Ghana, who had hitherto been struggling, sold a little over Euros 140,000.00 in “sneakers” to the “very old car driver”, Alfred Woyome. This stock of “sneakers” was delivered in 40-foot containers.

Alfred Woyome had acted as an Alternate Director for mPowapak Ghana when the Smiths were not available in the country. On one occasion, after the cancellation of the bid for CAN 2008 and related projects, mPowapak Ghana made various demands on Alfred Woyome; during this period, the relationship started to strain. Before then, as Alternate Director, Alfred Woyome made some expenditure for the common interest of Alfred Woyome and the Smiths amounting to GHS124, 000.00. Ray Smith refused to accept the expenditure and wanted the money returned to him [with interest] and, yet still, says Woyome, expected to benefit from the purpose for which the money was expended, claiming that he had done his part by drafting letters and handling some local administrative functions. At this time, Alfred Woyome’s brother, Kobby Woyome’s company was the Clearing Agent for mPowapak Ghana; the afore-mentioned money [expenditure] became a big tussle between Alfred Woyome and the Smiths. Thereafter, he [Ray Smith] made some accusations [against the company’s Accounts Clerk] and it was agreed that an Auditor go through the Accounts; these accusations included an allegation that the amount in question, plus a little over GHS 100,000.00, had gone missing. Although Alfred Woyome asked that the matter be referred to the Police, Ray Smith rather chose the path of blackmail at a time when Kobby Woyome was standing for election, as a Member of Parliament, in the Volta Region. Ray insisted that Alfred Woyome did not run the company well, as Alternate Director and asked that Alfred Woyome pay the money plus interest, which amount, upon advice from his lawyers, Alfred Woyome settled an amount of GHS340, 000.00 [paid to the Smiths]. In the meantime, the said Accounts Clerk has always denied any wrongdoing and has suggested that the over GHS100, 000.00 is a fabrication and concoction of Ray Smith’s.

Ingeborg Smith also acted as Supervising Director for Powapak Togo Sarl when Alfred Woyome was fully engaged in sourcing for funding for projects in Ghana and elsewhere for the mutual benefit of both the Smiths and himself. Mr. Woyome asserts that she left the company, which at the time she temporarily took over its management, was valued at Euros 600,000.00, to run down until Red Bull withdrew its license to Powapak Togo Sarl. Alfred Woyome did not ask her [or her husband, Ray] for a refund!

All this while, one Mr. Tony Lithur had been the lawyer to the Smiths. It is interesting that, as the New Crusading Guide is writing this piece, the Punch is also reporting that “Alfred Woyome represented mPowapak and not Waterville and” that “it was mPowapak that was contracted by Waterville to do financial engineering from the Austrian Bank and HSBC and not Alfred Woyome”.

Mr. Woyome, again, asserts that the Directors of mPowapak Ghana have never been to the United States of America [USA] or any other country to arrange anything for him [Mr. Woyome] to be representing them. In fact, he categorically stated that it was he who paid mPowapak Ghana the amount of $1.5million [in final sum] for their “so-called Administrative support.” To further buttress his point, Mr. Woyome states that the Smiths were with him in Vienna’s Ambassador Hotel when the final Documentary Financial instrument was sent to him and addressed to him PERSONALLY, not to mPowapak [the envelope which enclosed this document exists]. In fact, mPowapak has gone to court, again with Tony Lithur as Lawyer, after they had negotiated with Alfred Woyome’s lawyers, the payment of the full sum of $1.5million. This negotiation had been necessitated by the fact that Alfred Woyome, initially paid mPowapak the amount of $600,000.00, withholding $900,000.00 of the $1.5million on account of the fact that Alfred Woyome had demanded accounting for the hundreds of thousands of United States dollars he had given to the Smiths for the establishment of WOFA Europe [which was administered by the brother-in-law of Ray Smith’s wife]. Indeed, the suit filed by Tony Lithur, on behalf of the Smiths, makes further demands for the payment of interest on a fee.

Hospital Projects: MPowapak Ghana was representing Vamed Engineering before Alfred Woyome’s arrival in the country; prior to Alfred Woyome’s arrival, a number of Hospital projects had been approved by the Parliament of Ghana without requisite funding being available. Alfred Woyome took up the funding, together with Vamed Engineering, having been associated with the Austrian financial system long before his arrival in Ghana. This, he did, with Vamed Engineering, culminating in the final registration and signatures of the Funding Agreements by the Austrian Government to Ghana in Vienna in Alfred Woyome’s presence, with Hon. Yaw Osafo Marfo leading the delegation. MPowapak did not have any presence at the Vienna event. Again, Mr. Woyome asserts that mPowapak did not expend any money on all the foregoing processes. “For emphasis, it is instructive to note that mPowapak have never funded any of the projects Alfred Woyome has embarked upon except for some miniscule support [Accommodation and Occasional meals] that the Smiths gave for a trip they had invited Alfred Woyome to their hometown”, he declared. For this trip, Alfred Woyome claims he funded his own airfare.

Mr. Woyome emphatically states that mPowapak never funded any aspects of the Financial Engineering tasks that he carried out; he suggests that if they had, they would have made claims long ago. It is intriguing to note that, in a matter between Alfred Woyome and Raymond Archer [in reference to The Enquirer newspaper], Tony Lithur, who is again lawyer for Raymond Archer, refers to the relationship between Alfred Woyome and MPowapak in his representation of Raymond Archer, as one of the points he will be relying on, whereas that is not one of the issues before the court. The issue before the court actually relates to the ownership of The Enquirer newspaper and the alleged forging of the signature of Alfred Woyome’s lawyer, one Mr. Babanawo, by Raymond Archer, which he, Lawyer Tony Lithur, has filed as part of documents to support his defense of Raymond Archer.

MPowapak’s role in anything related to CAN 2008 ceased when Vamed [whom MPowapak had represented] transferred their rights to Waterville. This is affirmed by a letter to the Attorney-General signed by Ray Smith’s wife.

It is, again, strange that Tony Lithur, who is the lawyer to MPowapak, Austroinvest, Raymond Archer, and Intercontinental Bank in cases involving Alfred Woyome, has also metamorphosed into the lawyer representing HE Mrs. Naadu Mills [First Lady], after being the lawyer for Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings. He, Tony Lithur, allegedly called two of Alfred Woyome’s lawyers on separate occasions and purported to be speaking for Government and that Alfred Woyome should return the GHS51.2million genuinely awarded him by the courts in exchange for non-prosecution. Tony Lithur’s Client, Ray Smith, by his own confession, believes that Alfred Woyome deserves the money to be paid to him.

MPowapak Ghana’s Directors have been indicted by the Customs Excise and Preventive Service [CEPS] Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority [GRA] for under-invoicing to the tune of about GHS2, 000,000.00; this matter has been hanging at the GRA and the Smiths are on record to have blamed Kobby Woyome [Alfred’s brother] as being the one who reported them; indeed, for 2 years now, CEPS have not proceeded with the collection of this money. It is the same MPowapak Director, Ray Smith’s wife, who is purported to have given Euros 500,000.00 to Alfred Woyome for the renovation of the burnt down house of HE Jerry John Rawlings around the same time that this letter was being written.

It is, however, informative to note that Alfred Woyome claims to have a voice recording of Ingeborg Smith [wife of Ray Smith] denying giving any such money to Alfred Woyome and claiming that they [the Smiths] do not have that kind of money to give out.

It is very strange for Ray Smith to say that Alfred Woyome’s brother, the Honorable Kobby Woyome, was unsuitable to be a Member of Parliament [MP] and that Alfred Woyome pushed him into being an MP so as to enhance his [Alfred Woyome’s] power base within the National Democratic Congress [NDC]. This is in SHARP CONTRAST to the truth since there are several more MPs who Alfred Woyome supported even much more than the support he gave to his own brother, Hon. Kobby Woyome. This statement could only come from Ray Smith’s known association with a former MP and some of the above-mentioned persons who have an axe to grind with Alfred Woyome’s brother.

It is also believed that Ray Smith is in line to be called as a Prosecution Witness in the matter relating the payment of Judgment debt to Alfred Woyome and he [Alfred Woyome] said he would advise him to make the information he sent to the President of the Republic of Ghana, together with any other information he might deem to be relevant available to the Police Criminal Investigations Department [CID], who need all the information they can get to conclude their investigations.

Source: Thelma Benjamin Freelance Journalist with Wiener Zeitung