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Some staff of the Controller and Accountant General’s Department have allegedly teamed up with some pupil teachers in the Sekyere South District of the Ashanti Region to defraud the State of millions of cedis.
The pupil teachers, who per their contract are to be paid GH 598.09, are approached by the “boys ” of these staff who strike the fraudulent deal with the teachers and put them on a salary scale which ensure that they are paid GH 1,798.32 per month
These staffs of Controller and Accountant General’s Department [CAGD] through their agents in the district, at the end of every month, take a percentage of the inflated salary as their share of the fraudulent deal.
Although the fraud has been brought to the attention of the CAGD as well as the Bureau of National Investigations since last year, very little has been done to prosecute those alleged to be complicit in the deal.
A whistle-blower in the case, named Twumasi, who used his girlfriend as a conduit to investigate the activities of these staff alleged to be the mastermind of the deal says he is now up against death threats.
He told Onua 95.1FM Tuesday afternoon that when he got to know about the deal, he decided to investigate hence made his girlfriend, who is a pupil teacher, to enrol by paying a bribe GHC200.
“I paid GH200 as bribe to these boys to help enrol my girlfriend,” he said, and noted that after the deal, his girlfriend was who was receiving a monthly salary of a little over GHC500 was upgraded to receive GH1, 798.32.
Twumasi who appeared on Onua FM’s afternoon political show, Ghana Dadwen, showed copies of his girlfriend’s pay advice slips to corroborate his claims.
He said his investigation revealed that the fraudulent deal was pervasive in the district and that it was deep-seated. According to him, the agents, who are also pupil teachers themselves, are those who procure clients in the district and then forward the names and details to their masters at the CAGD head office in Accra who then do the upgrade.
Twumasi said he reported the incident to the CAGD and the BNI for further investigation after which they confirmed the existence of such a fraudulent deal. He said the salary of his girlfriend was suspended.
He said some of the agents were arrested by the BNI but were later released without explanation. Their release, he said, has put his life in danger, saying “because of this issue I cannot go to my hometown, the boys have threatened to kill me. Occasionally, I receive strange calls. I still do not understand why the BNI officials must let the boys know that I was the informant and l still don’t understand why they released those guys”.
When contacted, the Director of CAGD, Ms Grace Francisca Adzroe, confirmed Twumasi’s case saying, “ I am aware of this case as it is being described on air. We did our own investigations and we found out that the staff he mentioned at the district level were not CAGD staffs, so we compiled the list and sent them to BNI”.
“The feedback l got was that this gentleman [Twumasi] was involved. So if he’s out there saying that he brought information to us and we didn’t take any action, well the information is with the BNI,” she added.
She, however, admitted that Twumasi was the one who provided her with all the necessary information to assist CAGD in its investigations. She also confirmed that Twumasi’s girlfriend’s account has been suspended to prevent further deposit.
“The lady has not been paid, the salary has been suspended. The matter of Twumasi is a well-known case at the BNI, they told me they have investigated and the case is even widespread more than this. I have called the BNI, not ones, not twice, because as l speak, BNI has not given me any feedback,” she told Onua FM
But Twumasi has refuted the assertion by Ms Adzroe that he was involved in the fraudulent deal, and asked her to let the good people of Ghana know how he became part of this deal when he was only an informant.
According to him, Ms Adzor confirmed to him about the names of the staff that were behind the fraud and expected the CAGD to sanction the staff but nothing whatsoever has been done to those staff.
Meanwhile, officials of the BNI have refused to speak on the matter.
Twumasi said he reported the incident to the CAGD and the BNI for further investigation after which they confirmed the existence of such a fraudulent deal. He said the salary of his girlfriend was suspended.
He said some of the agents were arrested by the BNI but were later released without explanation. Their release, he said, has put his life in danger, saying “because of this issue I cannot go to my hometown, the boys have threatened to kill me. Occasionally, I receive strange calls. I still do not understand why the BNI officials must let the boys know that I was the informant and l still don’t understand why they released those guys”.
When contacted, the Director of CAGD, Ms Grace Francisca Adzroe, confirmed Twumasi’s case saying, “ I am aware of this case as it is being described on air. We did our own investigations and we found out that the staff he mentioned at the district level were not CAGD staffs, so we compiled the list and sent them to BNI”.
“The feedback l got was that this gentleman [Twumasi] was involved. So if he’s out there saying that he brought information to us and we didn’t take any action, well the information is with the BNI,” she added.
She, however, admitted that Twumasi was the one who provided her with all the necessary information to assist CAGD in its investigations. She also confirmed that Twumasi’s girlfriend’s account has been suspended to prevent further deposit.
“The lady has not been paid, the salary has been suspended. The matter of Twumasi is a well-known case at the BNI, they told me they have investigated and the case is even widespread more than this. I have called the BNI, not ones, not twice, because as l speak, BNI has not given me any feedback,” she told Onua FM
But Twumasi has refuted the assertion by Ms Adzroe that he was involved in the fraudulent deal, and asked her to let the good people of Ghana know how he became part of this deal when he was only an informant.
According to him, Ms Adzor confirmed to him about the names of the staff that were behind the fraud and expected the CAGD to sanction the staff but nothing whatsoever has been done to those staff.
Meanwhile, officials of the BNI have refused to speak on the matter.
By Lydia Ezit|Onua 95.1FM|tv3network.com
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