Amidu sues Ayariga in court for fraudulent evasion of tax on imported vehicles

General News on Thursday, May 23, 2019

Source: Graphic.com.gh

2019-05-23

Mahama Ayariga, a member of Bawku Central's parliament, was charged with using a public service for private purposes.

He faces four counts of fraudulent evasion of duties and taxes, having used a public post for private purposes, trading unlicensed currencies and transferring foreign currency. from Ghana through an unauthorized reseller.

The second defendant, Kendrick Akwasi Marfo, a car dealer, faces a charge of fraudulent evasion of duties and taxes.

The disclosed charge was signed by the special prosecutor, Mr. Martin Amidu, on March 22, 2019.

It was filed in the High Court Registry on 27 March 2019, but it is not clear why the defendants have still not been brought to justice.

The Special Prosecutor's Office declined to comment on the leaked document when Graphic Online's Mabel Aku Baneseh called to find out why the defendants had not been prosecuted for the time the charge sheet was filed.

The facts that accompanied the indictment indicated that, at its last meeting, Parliament, on April 7, 2017, approved by a resolution a loan agreement for the purchase of official vehicles of the United States. deputies between the Chamber and the General Society of Ghana.

Each MP was entitled to a loan of $ 80,000 payable within four years for the purchase of his official vehicle.

He specified that deputies had the right to access the loan only through the intermediary of a supplier and that no MP had the right to collect personally. the loan due for the purpose for which it was guaranteed or otherwise.

According to the Special Prosecutor, Ayariga allegedly had links with a sheriff Ahmed Tijani Abdulai, who had registered a company called ASH Plantpool Limited for the sole purpose of representing her as the MP's supplier.

Ayariga reportedly requested that its share of the loan be transferred to ASH Plantpool's account, which the Clerk of Parliament approved, which would have caused Société Générale to transfer $ 80,000 to ASH Plantpool's account.

Abdulai reportedly transferred $ 78,000 to Ayariga's personal account and withheld $ 2,000 as a commission, contrary to the loan agreement.

Import

According to the facts, Ayariga then used the money to import three Toyota V8 Land Cruisers vehicles from Dubai and then applied for tax exemptions.

It benefited from tax exemptions provided that it paid the duties and taxes in the amount of 36,591.15 GH ¢ before the vehicles were cleared from the port because the duties and taxes on the vehicles exceeded the amount of the tax. 39, exemption allowed.

Ayariga would have instead paid an amount of 6 062.86 GH ¢ instead of 36 591.15 GH ¢ for the customs clearance of vehicles at the port.

The facts further indicated that Ayariga had sold the three vehicles for a total amount of $ 120,000 to Marfo instead of using them for his official duties.

The investigations also revealed that Ayariga had transferred USD 90,000 to Dubai for the purchase of the vehicle through an agent of his supplier, who was not allowed to carry out exchange operations.

According to the special prosecutor, Marfo knew that the vehicles were exempt from customs duties and taxes, but he did not pay these exemptions before buying them, while Ayariga also failed to pay these exemptions before the sale.

The facts were signed by the investigator in charge of the case, Mr. Rockson Gyimah of the Bureau of Economic and Organized Crime (EOCO).

The case was filed in court on March 27, 2019.