More details are emerging on the forensic report on the corruption scandal at Ghana’s Embassy in Washington, DC, United States of America (USA).

The latest detail, which was shared in a publication by pacgh.org, showed how the staff of the embassy involved in the scandal allegedly shared the spoils of over $19.4 million from the extortion of visa and passport applicants.

According to the report, the forensic audit conducted by the Auditor General revealed an elaborate scheme by staff to share the money the embassy extorted from visa and passport applicants between 2019 and 2025.

The report indicated that proceeds from the scam, which was masterminded by Fred Kwarteng, the main suspect in the case, were channelled and paid to embassy officials under the guise of “welfare benefits.”

The audit report showed how the Treasury Officer, Janet Maku Koranteng, of the embassy wrote a letter to create the bank account the funds were paid into with Citibank on March 16, 2020.

“On behalf of the Ghana Embassy/Mission in Washington DC, this letter is to advise that effective date April 1, 2020, you are requested to open a new account titled Embassy of Ghana Welfare Account,” part of the letter in question stated.



The report showed how disbursements to staff were made from the so-called welfare account.

Two attached documents showed a total of $10,800 and $14,400 were disbursed from the accounts.



Suspicions raised by Citibank official:

The report also showed that Citibank officials raised questions on the withdrawal and deposit of funds into the said account.

A bank official is said to have questioned the embassy about payments into the Ghana Embassy Welfare Account by Ghana Travel Consultancy LLC, a company created by Fred Kwarteng.

“A/c ending 9029, which was recently opened, is intended to make welfare benefit payments to Embassy staff. At the time of the account opening, you indicated that this account will [sic] be funded by contributions from the Embassy staff and also from contributions from the Embassy’s couriers.

“The only funding to this account so far were from Ghana Travel Consultancy LLC by way of three checks indicated below. Is this the Embassy Courier that you indicated?

“Maybe I misunderstood this part, but could you please explain what Gana Travel Consultancy does for you? Are they just a courier service or are they actually processing the consular service applications on your behalf? Also, why are they making these payments to the Embassy?” the official asked.



How the account was closed, the attempt created:

The report also showed that the said welfare account was closed after the intervention of the then Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey.

Despite the closure of the account, the embassy officials still went on with their scheme.

Janet Koranteng, in a letter to Citibank, which communicated the closure of the account after the order of the then Foreign Minister, made enquiries on where another account could be opened without officially involving the Embassy.

“Can the Welfare Committee open an account without the involvement of the management of the Embassy?” she asked.

In a response, a Citibank official is reported to have said that it “will not be able to open/maintain the welfare account separately (under non-embassy management) as long as the purpose of the account remains the same (for making welfare payments to embassy employees).”

The forensic audit showed that even though the said account was officially closed on October 10, 2021, the illicit transactions that caused visa and passport applicants to pay far more than they were supposed to pay continued until 2025.

Read the full report here

BAI/VPO

Your Dream Property Is Just a Few Clicks Away – GhanaWeb Real Estate