Economic and Organised Crime Office raid GFA office

Accra, Dec. 8, GNA - The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) on Tuesday raided the premises of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) in Accra, in order to search for, identify and seize documents and equipment to facilitate investigations about the association. The operation which took place between 1000 hours and 1300 hours was assisted by personnel from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.

A statement from the EOCO and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the exercise which was backed by an order from the High Court was motivated by the believe that vital information relating to the on-going investigations could be found. It said on the September 7, the office addressed a request, in accordance with the law, for information to the President of the GFA, among other institutions, asking for certain documents which the outfit required as part of its investigations into certain financial affairs of the GFA, "the office has cause to believe have led to breaches of the laws of Ghana on tax, fraud and others".

"All the other institutions supplied the requested documents but the GFA failed to comply, until 14 October, 2010 when the office received a letter from the GFA stated that they have received the letter from the office." The statement said the GFA promised to get back to the EOCO as soon as possible as the notice it was served with was very short. It said the office waited for more than six weeks and when the GFA did not seem to be making any efforts to comply with the request, " steps were therefore taken to apply to the High Court for a search warrant, which was executed".

"The office wishes to assure Ghanaians and everybody, that all steps will be taken to expedite action on the items that were seized during the search, so that they could be returned to the GFA. " In all its activities, the office will ensure a rigorous adherence to the law and procedure and will apply the highest professional standards possible.

"The 1992 Constitution, the EOCO Act, and the laws of the Republic of Ghana require that the office performs its functions efficiently and effectively. Ghanaians have been yearning for action on issues of breaches of law and the office has a duty to perform its legally mandated functions," the statement concluded. 8 Dec. 10