Two Judges On Trial For Stealing ¢115M

The Association of Judges and Magistrates has turnout to be a group of ostriches with their heads buried in the sand, refusing to accept claims of corruption within the justice delivery system as stated by the late Chief Justice George Kingsley Acquah and Georgina Theodora Wood, the current Chief Justice, and restated by the four blacklisted lawyers.

But presently at an Accra High Court is the trial of one Justice Edward Mensah Boateng, a High Court judge, who connived with another High Judge and a Court Registrar, to steal ¢115 million, being interest which accrued on some monies kept in the custody of the Denu High Court in the Volta Region, between 2000 and 2002.

The three were put on trial following findings made by the Disciplinary Committee of the Judicial Council as part of moves to clamp down on corruption within the judiciary, said an article captured in the Daily Graphic, dated Monday, June 27, 2005.

Mr Justice Boateng, until his trial, was the Cape Coast High Court judge, and Justice Michael Kwasi Woanya, the second accused person, was a former High Court judge of Denu but currently on retirement. They connived with the Registrar at the Denu High Court, J. D. Owusu, who is also on trial, to steal the money.

The three were arrested and, accordingly, charged with conspiracy and stealing, and are currently on trial before an Accra High Court, presided over by Justice Charles Quist.

Facts of the case are that Justice Edward Mensah Boateng, who presided over a dispute between two parties, claiming a portion of land in use as a quarry by the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company at Denu, ordered that the company pay an amount of US$50,754.94 to the court, to be held in trust for whoever emerges as the owner of the land being contested.

The company, subsequently, paid the amount to Jacob Dickson Owusu, the senior court registrar, at the Denu High Court.

But after the payment was made, as demanded by Justice Mensah Boateng, he and the registrar connived to invest the money in a fixed deposit account, and started pocketing the interest on the amount. The two reportedly changed the dollars into cedis, and opened an account at the Denu branch of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).

However, before the deposit could mature, Justice Boateng was transferred to Sefwi-Wiawso in the Western Region, from where he occasionally dispatched his wife to Denu to withdraw the accrued interest.

Between October 2001 and May 2004, a total amount of ¢115,173,561.66 accrued as interest on the fixed deposit, which was withdrawn seven times by the second accused person, Justice Woanya, who shared it, four times, with the first accused, and three times with the third accused person, Mr. Owusu.

Justice Woanyah, became aware of the money when the registrar, in November 2002, briefed him of the sharing arrangement between him and his predecessor. Justice Woanyah subsequently advised the registrar to stop sharing the money with the first accused, since he, Woanyah, had taken over as judge of the Denu Court.

When the information of the scandal got to the notice of the Judicial Service, a complaint was formally made to the Police, who arrested the accused persons and arraigned them before court. The first accused, Justice Boateng, is on interdiction.

The Daily Graphic, in its story, quoted unnamed sources as having explained that the Disciplinary Committee of the Judicial Council found the judges culpable after a thorough investigation and, accordingly, forwarded its findings and recommendations to the Attorney-General’s Department, then headed by Mr. Ayikoi Otoo.

Mr. Justice Boateng was reported to have masterminded the deal of sharing the interest with the registrar when he was the High Court judge at Denu. He was later transferred to Sefwi Wiawso, then to Cape Coast, where the interdiction took place. However, when Mr. Justice Woanya took over at the Denu High Court, he continued with his predecessor’s dirty deals.

When the issue came out, Mr. Justice Boateng wrote a letter begging the Judicial Council to review its decision against him, and not prosecute him.

In a letter dated April 12, 2005 and headed “Petition for a review of the Judicial Council’s decision to prosecute me and two others,” Justice Boateng admitted that the registrar of the Denu High Court invested the money paid into the court’s account at the bank, and it yielded interest of ¢115 million.

“Out of this amount, I took ¢13 million while Justice Woanya took ¢25 million, with the registrar pocketing the rest,” the letter said.

His letter, which was addressed to the Chairman of the Judicial Council, the late Chief Justice George Kingsley Acquah, said: “I am on my knees begging the council to revisit my case with a lot more compassion and call off the said prosecution.

“I have served my nation well for 24 years with just this one blemish on my record. That, just this one blemish, should not be used to destroy me completely,” the letter said.

Mr. Justice Boateng’s letter, which was also copied to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), pleaded with the council to rescind its decision, since it would have adverse effects on him and his family.

He said following the charges that had been preferred against him and the likelihood that he would be dragged to Accra to face trial “anytime from now”, he and Justice Woanya met and decided that it would be in their interest to refund the money, since the registrar had failed to contribute towards the refund, although he had the lion’s share of ¢77 million.

According to the letter, Justice Boateng agreed to part with his robbing and book allowance of ¢45.5 million, while Justice Woanya agreed to pay off the rest.

The letter said Justice Boateng and Justice Woanya had rendered apology to the owners of the money which was invested and they had accepted it in good faith.

Justice Boateng further stated that he had not been fairly treated in the matter because, “in the first place, even though I took ¢13 million, my allowances of more than three times that figure were withheld, while my colleagues were never asked to pay even a pesewa by way of refund”.

To buttress his point, he stated in the letter that Justice Woanya was on retirement, enjoying his benefits, adding that “even if he is convicted and imprisoned, he and his children will not suffer, as he has his entitlements to fall on”.