The Ashanti Regional Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party, Paul Yandoh, has alleged that the government has frozen the Mobile Money account of the party’s Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi.

Yandoh believes the move is part of deliberate attempts to frustrate the embattled regional chairman, who is currently facing multiple charges related to illegal mining activities.

“… Do you know that Chairman Wontumi’s Mobile Money wallet has been frozen? He cannot send nor receive money. What Wontumi is going through is more than what Job went through in the Bible. This must be condemned by Ghanaians,” Yandoh lamented in an interview on Wontumi TV and monitored by GhanaWeb on Friday, October 17, 2025.

Wontumi is currently standing trial on charges of unlawfully undertaking mining operations and facilitating environmental destruction in the Tano Nimire Forest Reserve.

He secured his release on October 10, 2025, after meeting bail conditions amounting to GH¢25 million imposed across two separate illegal mining cases pending against him.

Earlier, on October 7, 2025, he had failed to meet the bail requirements set by the Criminal Division of the High Court in Accra.

Chairman Wontumi rearrested

In one of the cases, he was granted GH¢15 million bail with two sureties, while a second court imposed an additional GH¢10 million bail with two sureties, one to be justified with landed property.

The court also directed that he reports to investigators once every week for the first month and refrain from traveling outside the country without permission.

Meanwhile, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has impounded about 15 luxury vehicles belonging to the NPP chairman.

Wontumi confirmed the seizure during an interview on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, stating that the vehicles included high-end brands such as a Bentley and a Rolls Royce.

106 Years or 25 Years: The maximum jail term Wontumi could get if he is found guilty

“At the moment, EOCO has taken close to 15 of my cars, but I have decided not to speak. The vehicles are in EOCO’s custody. I bought them from Bright Selby at Asylum Down near the NPP office. He registered them, paid the duties, and did everything. My Bentley, Rolls Royce, and others are all there,” he remarked.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges levelled against him.

JKB/AE

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