Deputy Attorney General, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, has revealed shocking details about how about ₵500 million was allegedly siphoned from the National Service Authority (NSA).
Speaking in an interview, Dr. Srem-Sai described the situation as “a shock,” especially because national service personnel are paid only about ₵700 a month.
“You could never believe that millions of cedis could be siphoned through a project which pays personnel ₵700. It was a poverty project,” he said.
According to him, the alleged fraud was carried out through a fake market platform that was supposed to help service personnel buy items on credit and pay later from their allowances.
He explained that although the idea sounded good, investigations showed that the so-called “market” was used to push huge sums of money to vendors who sold nothing.
“We realized that people set up the system and were pushing a lot of money into the market when no one actually bought anything. These vendors received money even though they sold nothing, and the funds ended up in private pockets,” he revealed.
Dr. Srem-Sai said the evidence so far shows how elaborate and deliberate the scheme was. He added that when the trial begins, Ghanaians will be shocked to see how the funds were moved in and out of bank accounts.
On whether the accused persons, including Giftio Wari and Mr. Osei Sibe, have requested plea bargains, Dr. Srem-Sai confirmed that some suspects had made such requests, but not all were accepted.
“Every Ghanaian is entitled to plea bargain. Some of them applied to us for that. We considered them and rejected some. The fact that some are in court should tell you that we rejected certain proposals,” he stated.
He also said the government is determined to recover the full amount allegedly stolen.
“We are looking at recovering that amount — the entire ₵500 million. If they don’t have it, we will trace every asset and property they have, as far as the law allows us,” he added.
The Deputy Attorney General assured that the ongoing investigation and trial will help Ghanaians see the full extent of the alleged corruption at the National Service Authority.
By: Jacob Aggrey
