Fraud Office's Probe of SSNIT Begins

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has reiterated that its investigations into allegations of mismanagement levelled against some top officials of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) are ongoing and "given the multifaceted nature of the allegations the SFO will investigate and dispose of the issue serration".

A statement signed by Mr. Brian Sapati, acting Executive Director of the SFO last week, said the SFO is currently investigating the sale of the Singer Building to SSNIT, the alleged Land Cruiser gift to the Director-General of SSNIT by the Director of Regimanuel Gray to influence his approval for a USD$3 million loan guarantee for Regimanuel Gray Estate Developers and the alleged sale of Ten (10) Seat Toledo vehicles to SSNIT at inflated prices to benefit close associates of the Director-General of SSNIT."

Those who have so far appeared before it are Charles Kwame Asare - Director-General of SSNIT, Emmanuel Asiedu Gyamfi, head of Investments, SSNIT and Mawuli Ababio of Faith Brothers Investments.

Others are Victor Odartey Mills, Executive Director, Masai Company Limited, Thomas Benso Owusu, representing the Executive Secretary, Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC) and Felix Dzubey, Felix Dzubey and Co, the Consultants, who arranged the sale of the Singer House on behalf of the DIC. The statement appealed to those with information on the SSNIT investigations to provide such information to it to enable the office complete its assignment to the satisfaction of all stakeholders in the Trust.

It reminded the public that the SFO has the statutory power to compel persons with information relevant to the investigations to appear before it and would, therefore, compel anyone who is believed to have information that will be beneficial to the on-going investigations. The statement concluded that its investigations end only when persons found to have committed offences against the laws of Ghana are charged before the courts to answer to those charges in a criminal trial. This is in line with section 18 of the SFO Act 1993 (Act 466)