Explain transfer of GH¢52.5 billion to unknown account in 2020 - A-G told

UPDATE

In 2020, GCB Bank said that no unauthorised transfer of some GH¢52.5 billion had been made by the Bank. This was in response to allegations that the sum had been transferred into an unknown account.

The bank in the press statement in 2020 "noted with grave concern the publication of a doctored letter" purportedly emanating from the Ghana Audit Service in respect of the funds transferred.

"The said letter, currently circulating mostly on social media with the caption, "Audit Service Reports of GH¢52.5 Billion Transferred from GCB Bank To Unknown Sources," alleges that a total amount of GH¢52.5 billion was transferred from GCB's accounts to unidentified sources. This is false and mischievously designed to discredit the Bank," the statement said.

The former President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation Ghana and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana, Mike Kofi Afflu, has petitioned the Public Accounts Committee to probe the transfer of GH¢52.5 billion into an unknown account in 2020.

According to him, in a letter dated October 5, 2020, from the Audit Service to the Managing Director of GCB Bank Plc, the Auditor-General, demanded the Bank to explain why an amount of GH¢52.5 billion was transferred from the Bank into an Unknown account.

In a petition dated, August 11, 2023, and addressed to the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament and copied to GhanaWeb Business, he stated that “Since then, the Auditor-General has not provided any explanation to the Ghanaian.

Taxpayer to explain:

l. Where the money was transferred to?
2. Who authorized that amount to be transferred by the bank?
3. Into what account was the money transferred?
4. Details of the recipient account and any related issues?"

Part of Afflu’s concerns include the fact the USD GHS average rate for October 2020 was 5.77522.

The amount of GH¢52.5 million was, therefore, equivalent to US$9,090,783 (i.e., $9.1 billion).

According to him, “If this GH¢52.5 billion (from GRA Account) had been transferred to the Bank of Ghana as mandated by Law, Ghana would not have gone to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the bailout of $3 billion.”

“I am therefore requesting the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament of which you are the Chairman, to invite the Auditor-General of Ghana to provide the necessary explanation to your committee and Ghanaians as a whole,” the petition noted.

“We want to know who withdrew that amount of money from the GCB Bank Plc and for what,” he concluded.

Read the petition below:



SSD/NOQ

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