MANAGER, WIFE IN ?1.3b FRAUD

THE Western Regional Tribunal has convicted the former Chief Manager of the Mansoman Rural Bank, Mr. Bright Abotsi Damoah, and his wife, Mrs. Margaret Damoah, for allegedly stealing an amount of ?1.3 billion belonging to the bank.

The tribunal, chaired by Mr. Justice E. F. Dzakpasu, however, deferred sentenced to June 30, 2000 to enable the Land Valuation Board to submit valuation report on the property of the accused persons. Mr. Damoah was charged with 16 counts of stealing while his wife was charged with abetment of crime.

Prosecuting, an Assistant State Attorney, Mr. S. P. Akuffo, told the tribunal that in February 1999, two officials of the Banking Supervision Department of the Bank of Ghana, namely: Messrs Osei Bonsu and Samuel Darfor, with the assistance of the police, arrested the first accused person.

He said the arrest followed series of reports received from some customers of the inability of the Mansoman Rural Bank to promptly meet their withdrawal demands.

The prosecution said during investigations, it was detected that the first accused had embezzled ?750 million. Mr. Akuffo said further investigations also revealed that the first accused person had, as a result of dishonest appropriation of the bank?s funds acquired some properties, which include buildings at Tarkwa, Kumasi and Manso Amenfi, as well as two vehicles ? a Mercedes Benz saloon car with registration number WR 5555 L and a Daewoo saloon car with registration number WR 5555 P.

He said the first accused, during the period of his arrest, issued post-dated cheques totalling ?290 out of which ?75 million was recovered. He said the accused was later granted bail on February 18, 1999. Mr. Akuffo said the final report of the investigations team of the Bank of Ghana on the operation of Mansoman Rural Bank stated that the first accused dishonestly appropriated a sum of ?1.3 billion.

This sum, he said, was used by the first accused for business transactions. The prosecution said the first accused could also not account for ?525 million out of cocoa fund of ?2.1 billion advanced by the Produce Buying Company to the bank during the 1998/99 cocoa season.

On the second accused, Mr. Akuffo said, the BOG team?s investigations revealed that a greater part of the PBC fund was deliberately credited to an account number 044 at the Tarkwa agency in the name of his wife. He said the funds were credited to the accounts after various payment orders supporting the cocoa fund had been cashed at the Standard Charted Bank at Tarkwa.

He said the first and second accused persons withdrew the money from the account.

Mr. Akuffo said other monies for the Mansoman Rural Bank were also fraudulently transferred to account number 044 by the first accused and this was later withdrawn by his wife. He said, this was a deliberate act by the second accused and it was planned and executed by her.

According to the prosecutor, about ?660 million was lost by Mansoman as a result of the transfer of its monies by the first accused into the accounts of his wife.

He said the accused persons built a house at Tarkwa within a period of six months and sold it in early 1999 for ?200 million. Mr. Akuffo also said as a result of the acts of the first and second accused persons, the bank headquarters at Manso Amenfi and agencies at Tarkwa, Obuasi, Takoradi, Enchi, Asankragwa and Samreboi had no money to transact business.

He said customers started withdrawing their monies at a faster rate than they were saving and that some agencies may close down soon if funds were not secured for their operations.