Woyome, three others in court for fraud

Accra, Feb. 6, GNA – Businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome who is at the centre of the payment of a controversial GHc51.2 million judgement debt appeared in the Financial Division of the Fast Track Court in Accra on Monday charged with various counts of fraud.

Others also in court are Chief State Attorney, Samuel Nerquaye-Tetteh and his wife, Gifty, and the Legal Director at the Ministry of Finance, Paul Asimenu.

The four persons are in court as the police continue investigations into the payment of the judgement debt.

Woyome was arrested on Friday, barely 24 hours after the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) presented its report on the payment of the controversial judgement debt which stated that the businessman did not have a contract with the government and therefore did not deserve to be paid the colossal amount.

Mr Nerquaye-Tettey was arrested on Saturday.

Woyome had said he had a contract with the government for the rehabilitation of sports stadiums in Accra and Kumasi that was abrogated by the Kufuor Administration.

The EOCO report also indicted Nerquaye-Tetteh, Asimenu, former Attorney-General Betty Mould-Iddrisu and two officials of the Kufuor Administration, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Education, Science and Sports at the time and O.B. Amoah, Deputy Minister of Education, Youth and Sports at the time.

The report said Nerquaye-Tetteh was the Chief State Attorney directly in charge of the Woyome case.

“He admits that he drafted all the letters which Mrs Mould-Iddrisu sent to the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning concerning the transactions leading to the payments to Mr Woyome, with the exception of the letter dated December 9, 2010.”

Nerquaye-Tetteh said he was involved in the negotiations which led to the first settlement of more than GHc41 million.

He said when MOFEP refused to pay the money and Woyome went to court, he found it unconscionable to defend the action. He said he appeared in court and requested MOFEP to provide evidence which they did not have during the first negotiations in which the settlement was reached.

Nerquaye-Tetteh said MOFEP did not get back to him. The report said as a result, he concluded the Government did not have a defence and therefore did not file one.

“It is worthy of note that the default judgment procured by Mr Woyome out of this singular delinquent action by Nerquaye-Tetteh led to the seeming legitimisation of Woyome’s claim,” the report said . “Available evidence so far has confirmed that an amount of GHc400,000.00 was paid to the wife of Mr Nerquaye-Tetteh on June 16, 2011.”

The EOCO report said according to Nerquaye-Tetteh, the Chief State Attorney in-charge of the case for the AG’s Department, the Government did not have a defence. There were however enough grounds to defend the action but this was not done.