Quality Grain: Details of SFO letter to the FBI

As the slanging match between Government and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) over the Quality Grain affair rages on, The Independent says it has stumbled on a letter with some revelations.

?The letter was dated August 10, 2001 and was signed on behalf of the Acting Executive Director by T.A. Codjoe, Deputy Executive Director (Investigations).

The letter, which was addressed to Mr. Micahel H. Bonner, Legal Attach? of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) at 2 Wolter Corrington Crescent 9 (sic), Lagos Nigeria was titled ? Request for FBI Assistance: Investigations and Prosecutions in Respect of fraudulent Appropriation of Loan Funds for Aveyime Rice Production Projects by Quality Grain Company (GH) Ltd. And Renee Juliet Cotton.?

According to the paper, the letter sought a five-point assistance from the FBI in respect of:

a) Access to all documents relevant to the procurement of the loan of US$7million from the South Trust Bank of Alabama and insured by the Exim Bank of the US and in possession of the FBI.

b) Procurement of documents, etc relevant to the disbursement of a further US$12million, non-Exim Bank also disbursed by the South Trust Bank, Alabama, from the Bank?s Atlanta office. Of special importance in the Bank?s documentation of the loan are the documents entitled ?Funding documentary package to Natwest Markets for $6,018,722.96 Quality Grain Company (Ghana) Ltd. Ministry of Finance, the Republic of Ghana.?

c) Procurement of the transcript of Court Proceeding in respect of Civil Suit in Gwinnet County Court in re: Oscar Hudson and James McGrath VRS. Juliet Renee Cotton and Quality Grain Company Inc. USA.

d) Tracing any funds diverted from loans, which are available for possible garnishee processes by Government of Ghana.

e) Tracing of any assets acquired through funds fraudulently diverted from loans and establishing if any of the Ghanaian Public Officers involved in the investigations own such assets.

The letter states as a background to the Quality Grain affair that the Government of Ghana agreed with the Exim Bank of the US to guarantee a loan of US$7million to be granted to a US company, quality Grain Inc. to establish a rice mill and farm in Ghana to supply Ghana?s rice needs and for export.

The letter according to the paper further states that a total of US$21million was granted to Quality Grain by the South Trust Bank of Alabama and another US2million was later given to Quality Grain by the minister of finance of the government of Ghana.

The project, according to the letter was executed to completion. In December 1998, Quality Grain threatened to abandon the project unlawfully unless it was paid an additional US$5million as compensation for losses occasioned by delay in execution of the project.

The letter further stated that the SFO began investigations into possible fraudulent appropriation of loan funds.

In 1999, two directors of Quality Grain Inc, the US Company, began proceedings in the Gwinnet County Court in Georgia for damages for breach of trust for the diversion of corporate funds by Renee Cotton, the CEO of Quality Grain Inc. USA.

?The letter said, SFO investigations in Ghana had led to six persons standing trial for charges of causing financial loss of US$10 million to the state, contrary to sections of the criminal code of Ghana.

The letter named the six persons as Ibrahim Adam, former minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Samuel Dapaah, former chief director of the ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Kwame Peprah, former finance minister, Dr. Sipah Yankey, Legal Advisor to the minister for finance, Mr. Ato Dadzie, former chief of staff at the office of the president.

?When this paper reached some NDC bigwigs on the contents of the SFO had requested for assistance from the FBI, but they wondered why the FBI response to the request to find out if any funds had been diverted and for the tracing of any assets acquired by the said public officials have not been made public.