SSNIT Exposed For Not Paying Contributions Of 3000 Workers

Officials of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) have been caught flouting the very law under which it has been dragging many employers to court for prosecution..

The SSNIT officials with teamed up some Belgian nationals, led by Pierre Vandebeeck, a worthy businessman to evade the registration of nearly about 3000 workers of the Ghana Oil Palm Development Company (GOPDC), under a scheme which fraudulently described them as “Contractors or Casuals”.

The SSNIT officials, who are part of the management of the state-owned GOPDC located at Kwae and Okumaning, in the Kwaebibirem District of the Eastern Region, disregard the provisions of the Social Security Law 1991, PNDCL 247 and its successor National Pension Act, 2008, Act 766.

The SSNIT officials and the Belgian nationals presented false statements on the salaries of the Senior Seconded Staff of GOPDC, and as a result, succeeded in contributing far less than what should have been contributed for the benefit of the staff when they go on retirement.

While refusing to pay the SSNIT contributions of the workers, the Belgians were also evading tax and quite shocking, providing falsified documents to the Ghana Investment officials.

These revelations are contained in a police investigative report which probed the fraudulent sale of Ghana’s 20 per cent interests in the Oil Palm plantation to a Belgian company SIAT sa, by ex-Minister of Finance Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei and his two brothers, Albert Osei and D.K. Osei, former Secretary to ex-President John Kufuor.

According to the report which has since been handed over to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Martin Amidu, “there is evidence that SSNIT did not get maximum returns for its investment in GOPDC through the joint venture it entered with SIAT sa. Consequently, dividends to be paid to SSNIT are either not paid or diluted through manipulation of the company’s accounts”.

SSNIT’s initial investment, 50% interest in SIAT Gh. Ltd, was diluted to 30% whilst another Belgian-owned company, African Tiger Mutual Fund (ATMF), acquired 19%. This transaction must be investigated using facts that have been unearthed during the course of this investigation.

The report asked the government to impress upon SSNIT “to enforce compliance with the Social Security Law in all aspects, by the management of GOPDC, adding, SSNIT must compute all figures in relation to under-contribution and non-contribution by the management of GOPDC, and register all the 3000 workers as contributors from 1995 to 2010”.

The Police revealed that “an initial exercise carried out by a Task Force commissioned by the management of SSNIT confirmed that between July to September 2010, the management of GOPDC suppressed contributions that should have been made on behalf of the said workers by GHc 83,072.03. The team is currently compiling the total amount suppressed from 2000 to 2010.”

In September 1995, SIAT sa and GOPDC entered into a technical and management agreement in which SIAT sa was mandated to manage and provide technical assistance to GOPDC through appointment of qualified personnel. The agreement was approved by Ghana Investment Promotions Centre (GIPC) and was valid for five years with the projected minimum remittances from GOPDC to SIAT sa for the period 1995 to 1999 as US$1,400,000, but in reality, an amount of more than US$3,822,300 was charged to GOPDC’s operation and hence transferred to SIAT sa.

In a projected Business Plan submitted by SIAT to GIPC in support of the application, the company provided that by 1997, GOPDC would have commenced the processing of palm kernel into palm kernel oil and kernel cake, and that this was to have been followed in 1998 with the processing of Crude Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oil into Olein, Stearin and fatty acids, all downstream products.

In January 2000, The directors of GOPDC renewed the Technical and Management agreement with SIAT sa for another period of four year with significantly increased fees.

GIPC, in April 2002, requested the directors of GOPDC to provide the Centre with “the actual technology that was transferred and technical and managerial services that were rendered during the period of the previous agreement, with details of all improvements by way of inventions, processes, products and technical assistance transferred by the technology transferor, detailing all improvements made through the usage of the technology transferred during the period 1995-1999.”

J.C.E. Inkumsah, Felix Ntrakwah and Pierre Vanderbeeck, in various interventions provided falsified information about the operations, painting a picture to confirm the elaborate installation of hig- level technology to GOPDC.

GOPDC and SIAT Gh. Ltd Directors presented Kings Vegetable Oil as the Trade Mark that SIAT had transferred as a trade mark which had been transferred with its technological knowhow to GOPDC.

The truth, the police revealed, was that the said trademark, Kings Vegetable Oil, was originally registered in Ghana by SOMOTEX Ltd to cover vegetable oil it was then importing for sale in Ghana. The agreement was assigned to SIAT sa to enable it to use the Kings Vegetable Oil trademark.

That arrangement did not, however, come with the transfer of any know-how because SOMOTEX Ltd was purely a trading company and not an inventor or processor to acquire any such know-how.

The Registrar General’s certificate stipulated that “This certificate is for purposes other than use in legal proceedings or obtaining registration in a foreign country.” Indeed, the Kings Vegetable Oil trade mark has been duly registered in Israel as a Holy Anointing Oil. GOPDC did not, at any point in time, brand any of its products as Kings Vegetable Oil for both local and export markets.

Another application which was submitted by GOPDC in December 2009 for renewal of the Technical and Management Agreement due in February 2010, was rejected by GIPC in May 2010. This is simply because Leonardo Lamptey, the Solicitor Secretary of GIPC, had been replaced with another Solicitor who did not accept the information provided by GOPDC to support the application.

GIPC had hitherto approved for GOPDC technology that was already being operated in the country by companies like Lever Brothers and Paterson Zochonis Gh. Ltd, in contravention of statutory provisions clearly spelt out under Technology Transfer Regulations, 1992 (L.I.1547) Section 4.

Despite all these manipulations and provision of falsified information, Leonardo Lamptey, the former Solicitor Secretary of GIPC, negligently and carelessly, continued to approve all the applications submitted by GOPDC even though there were serious issues that needed to be addressed.

Leonardo Lamptey, on his part, falsified information which he provided to the Chief Executive Officer of GIPC to justify why he had continuously endorsed and extended Management and Technology Agreement of GOPDC. By the expiration of the Technical and Management Agreement on January 31st, 2000, the refinery and fractionation plant had not been acquired and installed, but a total amount of US$3,822,300 had been transferred to SIAT sa.

The fractionation project actually was commissioned in 2008, yet Technology and Management Fees were levied when, practically, no such technology had been transferred as well as know-how.

Between 2001 and 2009, a total amount of Euro 16,653,278.60 was transferred to SIAT sa under the caption ‘Seconded Staff’ remuneration.

It is also on record that even though GIPC, in May 2010, rejected GOPDC’s application for renewal of the agreement commencing from January 2010, GOPDC continued to accept SIAT’s invoices which had been raised with respect to seconded staff.

The management of GOPDC had, indeed, transferred an amount of Euro 1,285,838.94 to SIAT sa without GIPC’s statutory authorization

Leonardo Lamptey’s support for renewal in 2003 was fraudulent since available records proved that at the time of the application, SIAT sa had not transferred any technology and for that matter know-how to GOPDC. The fractionation and refinery technology was transferred only in 2008.

SIAT sa misrepresented itself to GIPC and illegally transferred technical and management fees from 2001 until 2009, totaling Euro 16,653,278.60. The police have asked the government to impress upon SIAT sa to have 16,653,278.60 Euro transferred out of the country, refunded with interest to the state.

Pierre Vandebeeck, Chairman of SIAT sa, Felix Ntrakwah, company solicitor and director of SIAT Gh. Ltd. Mr. J.C.E. Inkumsah, a former Managing Director, must be held jointly liable for misrepresentation and aiding and abetting SIAT sa to steal GOPDC’s financial resource with the submission and payment of SIAT sa invoices on perceived Technology that had been transferred to GOPDC under Section (2) (4) of SMCD 140

For supervising the transfer of Technical and Management fee for the period February to September 2010, even though GOPDC did not have any authorized agreement, Vanderbeeck and Weiner must be held accountable. SIAT sa must be made to refund amount so illegally transferred, the police report recommend.

Leonardo Lamptey, Solicitor Secretary of GIPC at the time, by carelessly and negligently handling the application of GOPDC, has faulted under Part III of the General Provisions of Ghana Investment Act, Act 478, Section 34 (2), and is also culpable under Section 2(1) of Public Property Protection Act 1977, SMCD 140

SIAT sa in managing the financial operations of GOPDC under the Technical and Management Agreement, has flagrantly violated laid down statutory provisions of Ghanaian laws, the report found.

The Directors of GOPDC passed a resolution at a Board meeting held on the January 20, 2003, that taxes must be computed only on 30% of directors allowances and remunerations whiles tax must not be paid on the remaining 70%. This was implemented on all the computations for management staff and others.

In the computations of IRS tax returns the Management of GOPDC has through, false and misleading statements with intent to avoid the payment of tax on the correct remuneration of ‘seconded resident staff, has evaded tax to the tune of GHc 2,443,509.82, with the resultant penalty of GHc7,330,529.46 based on Section 145 (1)(d) of Act 592

The Directors/Management of GOPDC contracted two loans from African Development Bank and International Finance Corporation to finance the restructuring and re-capitalization of GOPDC. GOPDC sought approval from Bank of Ghana to deposit the loan from African Development Bank, totaling 7.1 million Euros, in an account with KBC Bank in Brussels, Belgium.

The Management, however, failed to seek Bank of Ghana’s authorization but unilaterally lodged the second loan of US$12.5 million from IFC into the account with KBC Bank.

The Management of GOPDC has failed to provide records to prove that disbursements were done under the supervision and approval of Bank of Ghana. Signatories to the Bank account were P. Vandebeeck and family members, most of whom are not officials of GOPDC

This the report said, is in contravention of the Exchange Control Act, 1961 (Act 71) and Foreign Exchange Act 2006 (Act 723) as spelt out in Bank of Ghana’s Operational Guidelines. GOPDC must, therefore, be compelled to pay the amount of GH¢9,774,039.28 computed on the tax evasion

Pierre Vandebeeck, J.C.E. Nkumsah, Dr. Anthony Mensah, Emmanuel Amoako and S.M. Akrong, who were all Directors of GOPDC and who passed the offensive resolution, had acted contrary to the statutory requirements of Section 150 of Act 572 and also Section 195 of Companies Code, Act 1963, and must be made to face the prescribed punishment, the police report said.

MOFEP which represented the GOG in its capacity as shareholder of GOPDC, must direct IRS to form a specialized Audit Task Forces to conduct full-scale audit into the operations of all multi-national companies operating in the country, since the statutory monitoring agencies have woefully failed in their duties. Bank of Ghana must be made to request GOPDC to account for how these loans were utilized so as to determine whether GOPDC benefited in their disbursements.