High Court to determine whether OSP can freeze Cecilia Dapaah’s assets

A High Court in Accra would be determining whether the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) can continue its freeze of the assets of the embattled former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Dapaah.

This comes after the OSP filed an application for the court to confirm its freeze order of some of Cecilia Dapaah's assets.

According to JoyNews, a document from the OSP it sighted indicated that confirmation hearing.

It said that documents read in part; “confirmation of the seizure by the Office of the Special Prosecutor of the property of the Respondent upon the grounds contained in the accompanying affidavit and for any further order(s) as the court may deem fit”.

The High Court set Thursday, August 17, 2023, to confirm or otherwise, the step taken by the OSP to freeze Dapaah's assets.

GhanaWeb, on August 9, 2023, reported that the embattled former minister of sanitation and water resources assets and bank accounts containing millions of dollars and cedis have been frozen by the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

Documents sighted by GhanaWeb from our sources at the court also confirmed that the Office of the Special Prosecutor has commenced processes to have this administrative freeze confirmed and endorsed by the courts.

The powers of the OSP permit it to administratively freeze the accounts of a person of interest but beyond that, it will need the confirmation of the court to keep the account(s) frozen for a longer period.

The case to confirm the freezing of the accounts and assets is expected to be heard next week.

Meanwhile, our unimpeachable sources say millions of US dollars and millions of Ghana cedis were identified to be lodging in several bank accounts of the former minister while some monies were also retrieved in her various homes following a visit and search by the OSP.

Documents we have seen from our sources at the court show the OSP filing a motion of seizure of monies it retrieved from the search at her various residences.

The embattled former minister has been in the spotlight following an alleged theft that occurred in her Abelemkpe residence in Accra.

Her house helps are accused of having stolen monies in excess of one million dollars and other valuables belonging to her and her husband at home.

The OSP’s investigation into the former minister’s affairs is separate and different from the investigations by the police and the office of the Attorney General.

The OSP is investigating the minister for corruption and corruption-related offences while the AG and police are prosecuting persons alleged to have stolen monies belonging to or owned by the former minister.

BAI/NOQ



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