The former Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, and nine others have been slapped with 54 criminal charges by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
This follows an amendment of the previous charge sheet, which has increased the counts from 25 to 54, following the discovery of new evidence from ongoing investigations.
The summary of the charge sheet filed on Friday, October 17, reveals that officials of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and several associated companies are facing charges for alleged large-scale extortion, abuse of public office, and money laundering, totaling GH¢291,574,087.19 and US$332,407.47, respectively.
According to the OSP, the accused are alleged to have extorted hundreds of millions of cedis and foreign currency from bulk oil transporters and oil marketing companies under the guise of official duties and subsequently laundered the proceeds through property acquisitions and business entities to conceal their illicit origins.
The former NPA boss, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, is charged together with Jacob Kwamina Amuah, Wendy Newman, Albert Ankrah, Isaac Mensah, Bright Bediako-Mensah, Kwaku Aboage Acquaah, Propnest Limited, Kel Logistics Limited, and Kings Energy Limited.
The OSP indicated that assets seized pending trial include vehicles, tanker trucks, fuel stations, houses, apartments, and parcels of land valued at over GH¢100 million.
Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh, who was dealing with this case prior to this latest amendment, has been elevated to the Court of Appeal and is yet to receive a warrant from the acting Chief Justice to handle the matter.
On Monday, October 20, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid and the accused persons were present in court, but the case has been adjourned to November 13 for their plea to be taken.
Brief Facts
Per the brief facts of the case, the First Accused person was the Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), following his appointment on July 1, 2021. The Second Accused person was the Coordinator of the Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF) under the NPA.
The investigations revealed that between 2022 and December 2024, the First, Second, and Third Accused persons, under the color of their office as officers of the NPA, set up an extortionate scheme by which they unlawfully obtained an amount of GH¢291,574,087.19 and US$332,407.47 from bulk oil transporters and oil marketing companies, which they knew they were not lawfully authorized to obtain.
The scheme was contrived by the First Accused person, who sold the idea of the criminal adventure to the Second Accused person, who also recruited the Third Accused person as the primary conduit for receiving the proceeds of the crime.
A total amount of GH¢24,000,000.00 was handed directly by the Second Accused person to the First Accused person between January 2024 and December 2024, being proceeds of the criminal extortion scheme. Within the same period, the First Accused person also directly received the sum of GH¢230,000.00 from one oil haulage company.
The investigations further revealed that the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Accused persons, together with one Osei Tutu Adjei — Director of the Ninth Accused company (currently at large) — with the complicity of the Second and Third Accused persons, established and ran the Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Accused companies, by which they proceeded to unlawfully launder the proceeds of the criminal adventure of the First, Second, and Third Accused persons through various transfers for the acquisition of movable and immovable property for the purpose of concealing or disguising the illicit origin of the proceeds of the criminal enterprise and to evade the legal consequences of the unlawful activity.
Based on the facts above, the accused persons have been arrested and charged with the offenses contained in the charge sheet.
Below is a copy of the document
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
