The trial judge in the ongoing case involving the immediate past Director General of the National Signals Bureau (NSB), Kwabena Adu Boahene and two others has ordered the accused persons to refrain from initiating any plea bargaining agreement with the state.
According to His Lordship Justice John Eugene Nyante, the option of plea bargaining can only be commenced after the disclosure processes have been filed on the accused persons by the prosecution.
At the hearing today, May 26, the judge has also ordered the prosecution to file all disclosures not later than June 2 after failing to do so on May 20.
Lawyer for the accused persons, Samuel Atta Akyea, said the judge cautioned against premature plea bargaining because it’s a variable in the case management process.
He outrightly rejected speculations that his clients are considering such a move.
Background
Attorney-General Dominic Ayine formally charged Mr Adu Boahene and his wife, Angela Adjei Boateng, over corruption offences to the tune of GH₵49 million.
Together with two others, Mildred Donkor and Advantage Solutions Limited, they are facing charges of 11 counts of offences, including stealing, money laundering, defrauding by false pretences, and wilfully causing financial loss.
According to the writ filed at the High Court on Wednesday, April 30, Mr Adu-Boahene, who was responsible for overseeing critical national security infrastructure, including contracts with foreign companies, signed a deal with an Israeli company, ISC Holdings Limited, to purchase cyber defence software for $7 million.
In total, Adu-Boahene is alleged to have transferred approximately GHS 49 million (around $7 million) from the NSB’s funds into his personal accounts, falsely justifying these transactions as payments for the cyber defence systems, together with his accomplice.
“Further investigations have revealed that no cybersecurity system of the description in the January 30, 2020, contract was ever received by the Bureau of National Communication or by its successor agency, the National Signals Bureau, or by the Government of Ghana,” court documents available to MyJoyOnline indicated.
Adu-Boahene’s wife, Angela Adjei Boateng, is one of three directors of Advantage Solutions Limited, the sole shareholder of BNC Communications Bureau Limited.
Mildred Donkor is a former bank relationship officer for Adu-Buahene, his wife and BNC Communications Bureau Limited.
BNC was created by Adu-Boahene and his wife while he was still the NSB boss, and the company was used for the transaction of the security system purchased from the Israeli firm ISC Holdings Limited.
While an initial payment of GHS 9.5 million (about $1.75 million) was transferred to ISC Holdings, no further payments were made to the company.
Instead, subsequent funds were diverted for personal use, including investments and transfers to unknown parties.
The court documents alleged that Adu-Boahene, his wife and Mildred “Therefore ran an elaborate criminal enterprise using A4 (Advantage Solutions Limited) as a holding company through which the stolen funds were funnelled and laundered for their own benefit”.
The documents added that as the holding company for several subsidiary companies, including the Private BNC, A4 received a substantial portion of the stolen funds which were then invested by its shareholders and directors in the business activities of the subsidiaries, including investments in treasury bills, real estate, the manufacturing of fertiliser and rental of luxury cars to VIP customers.
Mr Adu Boahene was arrested on Thursday, March 20th, at the Kotoko International Airport upon his return from abroad by the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) in relation to the scandal, but was later granted bail.
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