FBI, IRS Hunt $20m Quality Grain 'Loot'

The American Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), their Inland Revenue Services (IRS) and one gutsy African American are in the centre of a relentless push to unravel and possibly recover part of Ghana's $22 million that had been bilked by an African American lady, Ms. Juliet Renee Cotton in the Quality Grain scandal that rocked the country last year.

The Rawlings Government facilitated her access to the staggering sum to grow about 22,000 acres of rice at Aveyime and other parts of the country. Currently less than 550 acres have been developed at the Aveyime site where Mr. Vincent Asiseh, the bent Press Secretary of the NDC and ex-Labour Minister who acted as brokers or got their spouses to be block contractors were implicated.

Not a cent of the $22 million is remaining; much of the money has evaporated in an incredible orgy of corrupt acquisitions. Ms. Cotton blew the Ghanaian taxpayers' money on haute couture, mansions and world class automobile marques, Chronicle follow ups have revealed.

Even in the United States, the story is doing the rounds in newspapers and web sites in some cities and towns in the State of Georgia.

The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported end of last month that Ms. Cotton 'who received (Ghana) Government backed loans to start the rice plantation spent some of the money buying two Mercedes, one Jaguar and Armani clothes'. The paper's reporter, Peter Scott quoting court documents added that JR paid herself $830,000, her husband $400,000 and paid $650,000 cash as deposit to buy a luxurious three-storey mansion in an upper crust part of Atlanta called Duluth where only the rich live.

The access to the neighbourhood is guarded and gated. Ms. Cotton's palatial house cost $1.7 million, more than the amount that is being used to renovate the decaying Osu Castle. Another paper, the Gwinnet Daily Post which is following the story bannered on its front page only some two weeks ago, March 8, 2001. The story titled: HANDLING OF GRAIN FUNDS INVESTIGATED BY FBI. The report by the paper's staff writer Mary Jane Credeur stated inter alia: 'The FBI is investigating claims that a Duluth entrepreneur squandered $2.5 million in funds from her start-up agriculture company, Quality Grain Inc in personal expenditures.

'Among the unauthorised purchases that allegedly came from Juliet Renee Woodard's (her maiden name before she wedded Mr. Cotton) corporate account are a Mercedes, a jaguar and a lump sum down payment of her $1.7 million home in the exclusive St. Ives Country Club community.' The Quality Grain project which began in the late 1990's and picked up in 1999/2000 is now all but collapsed despite under the direct supervision of the former Vice President Professor Evans Atta-Mills who was drafted by Ex- President Rawlings to supervise when it was all but down.

The key Ghanaian and American staff have all left. Smiley, one specialist miller from the US left only last Month leaving a lot of the more expensive equipment like a small spraying aircraft, tractors and a high capacity mill with no adequate maintenance or security back up.

In the US, J.R. Cotton's Quality Grain office in Gwinnet country has also closed down, leaving no forwarding address. One of the key promoters of the project and corroborating attorney who doubles as a witness, director of the company representing the interest of the Government of Ghana, Dr. George Sipah Yankey has also virtually surrendered the directorship, quit his job as Chief of the Ghana Gateway Project and taken up a job in Lome, Togo, as Boss of the Ecowas Fund, a position he faily contested for and won on merit. Dr.

Dapaah, Chief Director at the Ministry of Agriculture who raised suspicion with his unseemly affiliation with Ms. Cotton however still sits at the Ministry. (he travelled to attend JR's expensive wedding in the US).

Ghana unlike the US which lost out in the project has adopted a surprising lack of interest in the pursuit of the cash. President JA Kufuor made the Quality Grain affair a campaign issue and it remains to be seen what will be done about the amount which is now part of the c41 trillion national debt. The Serious Fraud investigated the matter led by one of their more infamous investigators, Mr. Theophilus Cudjoe.

The 1999 SFO report under Case No. 63, page 14 noted that the Government of Ghana should claim damages for breach of contract.A maternal uncle of Ms. Cotton, Mr. Oscar Hudson who has sued her in a Superior court in Gwinnet flew in last Wednesday and left the following day on an undisclosed mission. Chronicle met with him and his attorney Mr. Jerome Green in Accra where they confirmed the action.

Chronicle learnt that the FBI had sent telex messages to Ghana branch of Interpol at the Police Headquarters, asking for green light to come and wind up their investigations into the $22 million matter. More than six months after, there appears to be no green light forthcoming from Ghana even from the new administration. (DRAMA IN US COURT OVER QUALITY GRAIN CASE)