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Sedina Christine Tamakloe Attionu, former Managing Director of the Center for Microfinance and Small Loans (MASLOC), has been brought before the High Court of Accra by the Attorney General for allegedly causing a financial loss greater than GH ¢. 129.5 million to the state.
Attionu, who was MASLOC's boss from November 2013 to January 2017, was charged with Daniel Axim, a former operations manager at MASLOC.
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The two defendants were charged with 80 counts of indictment, including theft, conspiracy, deliberately causing financial losses to the state and public property.
The other charges are the improper payment of public funds, an unauthorized commitment leading to a financial obligation on the part of the government, money laundering and the violation of the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Law No. 663).
Attionu and Axim are scheduled to appear before the Criminal Chamber of the High Court of Accra on Monday, February 4, 2019 to respond to charges against them.
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Other prosecutions
Attionu's lawsuit is the fourth to come close to "causing a financial loss to the state" and contracting violations initiated by Secretary-General Gloria Afua Akuffo against government officials pbaded.
The prosecutor is already suing Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni, former Ghana Cocoa Board CEO (COCOBOD), Ernest Thompson, former director general of the Social Security and National Insurance Fund (SSNIT) and William Tetteh-Tevie Director General National Communications Authority (NCA).
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The case of A-G
The department of A-G has a litany of allegations against Attionu and Axim in the facts that accompanied the indictment filed in court.
For example, she accused Attionu of diverting 500,000 GH ¢ from a company that had received MASLOC's support in 2014.
It is the case of AG that MASLOC has granted a loan of 500 000 GH ¢ to the company Obaatanpa Micro-finance Limited, but that this one was made because of the high interest rate of 24% of the loan.
According to A-G, Obaatanpa Limited submitted a GH ¢ 500,000 check to Attionu, but declined and requested cash payment.
"A cash amount of 500 000 GH ¢ was handed over to the first accused (Attionu) by the chairman of Obaatanpa's board of directors on the night of 28 August 2014 at Baatsona's total filling station located on the Spintex road in Accra.
"By letter of August 28, 2014, the first accused (Attionu) acknowledged receipt of the refund. The investigations subsequently showed that MASLOC did not have a record of the amount paid to it and that Attionu had allocated the amount of 500 000 GH ¢, "said A-G.
Another accusation of the AG is that in April 2016, the MASLOC board of directors approved a sum of 1.7 million GH ¢ to be used for the national awareness of 85,300 beneficiaries of MASLOC, but Attionu and Axim removed 1.82 million GH ¢ from the MASLOC accounts for the awareness program.
"The investigations revealed that, of the 1.82 million GH ¢, only 1,300 GH ¢ were spent to refresh some beneficiaries in the regions of Volta, Greater Accra and Brong Ahafo and that no program has been put in place in the other seven regions.
"The investigations also revealed that prior to the board's approval, the first defendant (Attionu) had appropriated 246,280 GH ¢ for training, awareness and financial literacy", said the AG.
Kantamanto fire support
This is also the case of the AG which, in 2013, following a fire at the Kantamanto market, President John Mahama then asked MASLOC to provide badistance of 1.46 million GH ¢ to the victims of the disaster, but Attionu has diverted some of the money.
"The money, however, had to be disbursed through Dwadifo Adamfo Savings and Loans Company Limited (Dwadifo Adamfo). Investigations have shown that the first accused (Attionu) had appropriated 579,800 GH ¢ out of the 1.46 million GH, "A-G said.
Allegations of breach of supply
The AG further stated that Attionu had inflated the price of some items bought by MASLOC during its tenure and, in some cases, had signed public contracts without the approval of the company. Public Procurement Authority.
According to the A-G, on December 6, 2016, Attionu signed a contract with Mac Autos for the supply of 350 vehicles to MASLOC without any approval from the PPA.
The vehicles, he added, included Chevrolet Sparklite cars, Isuzu buses and Chevrolet Aveo cars.
"The unit price offered by Mac Autos to MASLOC for the Chevrolet Aveo was GH ¢ 74,495 ($ 18,883.39).
However, investigations revealed that the actual retail price offered by Mac Autos for the same model in the same tax-free year was GH ¢ 47,346.93 ($ 12,009.91).
"The unit price offered for the Chevrolet Sparklite was 65 095 GH ¢ (16 500,63 USD) while the real price offered by Mac Autos during the same period, without duties, amounted to 35 918,37 GH ¢ (9,104.77 USD).
For 33-seat Isuzu buses, the unit price offered to MASLOC was 445,560 GHAC (US $ 112,942.96), but the retail price before tax was GH ¢ 293,877.55 (US $ 74,493.67). ), said the agency.
Again, the A-G accused Attionu of having inflated the price of 200 mobile phones purchased by MASLOC for a project in November 2016, known as the PINCO Project Market Survey.
"The investigations revealed that even though the actual price of the phones in the open market was 24,400 GH, the first accused (Attionu) bought them at a price of 93,412 GH ¢," added A-G.
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