Accountant charged with stealing 1.09 billion cedis

Accra (Greater Accra), 16 Feb '99 -

Maxwell Sokpo, an accountant of Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL) yesterday appeared before an Accra circuit tribunal charged with conspiracy to steal and stealing more than 1.09 billion cedis belonging to his employers. Sokpo who pleaded not guilty, was granted one billion cedis bail with two sureties to reappear on March two. With him in the dock was Edem Aseye, a staff of the accounts office of the company, charged with the same offence. He also pleaded not guilty and was granted 50 million cedis bail to reappear on the same day. Mr Charles L. Quist, the tribunal chairman ordered the two accused to report to the police every Monday until the case was disposed off. Police Inspector Albert Akpey told the tribunal that Sokpo was in charge of banking services on behalf of the company while Aseye worked under him. The prosecution said on October 20, 1998, Sokpo presented a cheque for 293.1 million cedis to the Agricultural Development Bank for an overdraft payable to "Matorso Trading Enterprise" which belongs to him.

The counter official detected that the signatories were fictitious and the matter was reported to the police for further investigations. Police investigations revealed that the accused began the deal in June, 1996 through October, last year, and that he had succeeded in cashing a total of 1,099,783,802 cedis from the company's accounts. When Aseye was also arrested , he admitted signing some of the cheques and had since collected 77.9 million cedis as his share.