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| Abodakpi Jailed For 10 years |
2/5/2007 |
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Accra, Feb. 5. GNA - An Accra Fast Track High Court on Monday sentenced Daniel Kwasi Abodakpi, Former Minister of Trade and Industry, to 10 years'' imprisonment.
The Court presided over by Mr Justice S.T. Farkye, an Appeals Court Judge sitting with additional responsibility as a High Court Judge, found him guilty of conspiracy and wilfully causing 2.73 billion cedis financial loss to the State.
Abodakpi, who is also MP for Keta, was standing trial with Victor Selormey (Deceased), Former Deputy Finance Minister. Abodakpi and Selormey were being tried on seven counts of conspiracy to commit crime; defrauding by false pretences and wilfully causing a total loss of 2.73 billion cedis to the State. Abodakpi denied all the charges and was on self-recognisance bail in the sum of three billion cedis.
The Prosecution said between May and December 2000, Abodapki and Selormey allegedly transferred 400,000 dollars into the local bank account of Dr Fred Owusu-Boadu, a Consultant, through ECOBANK (Ghana) Limited.
The money, whose transfers were authorized by Selormey, was to be used as fees for feasibility studies towards the establishment of Science and Technology Valley Park Farm Project.
The Project contract was to have been witnessed by the Legal Officers at the Ministry of Trade and Industry or the Attorney-General''s Department, but this was not done.
The transfers had no official correspondence between Dr Owusu-Boadu and either the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The Prosecution said both Abodakpi and the Consultant signed what was purported to be a contract but there was no witness and the contract document was not initialled page by page as required.
The Contract lacked the detailed information required in a feasibility study, such as market analysis, financial projections and analysis to determine the financial viability and risk analysis of the Project, the Prosecution said.
It said there was the highly irregular use of letterheads from a Texas University, with bills amounting to 400,000 dollars when the University was not a party to the contract.
Source:
GNA
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