C109.3m 'Chopped'

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on Wednesday questioned the propriety in transferring Mr Seth Kwesi Sunu, acting Volta Regional Director of the Controller and Accountant-General's Department, after he had been found to have embezzled ?109,341,489.

Mr A. Tetteh Mensah, acting Assistant Director of SFO in charge of investigations, told the 'Times' in an interview that a thorough SFO investigation had confirmed that he embezzled the amount in 1999 and the culprit allegedly admitted the offence.

He said the SFO consequently recommended the interdiction of Mr Sunu pending appropriate action but instead he was transferred ostensibly to cover up. 'Times' investigations have revealed that Mr Sunu was initially transferred to Accra but was later re-assigned to the headquarters of the Civil Servants Association also in Accra.

Mr Mensah told the 'Times' on Wednesday that in November 1999, the District Finance Officer of Hohoe District Assembly, Mr Cephas Nukporfe, was prevailed upon by Mr. Sunu to apply for an Expenditure Authorization (EA) to the tune of ?109,341,489 to rehabilitate the District Treasury office which was a private rented premises.

Mr Nukporfe was further instructed by Mr Sunu to repeat some Financial Encumbrances (FE) that had already been issued out in the names of the Ministry of Health (MOH), Volta School for the Deaf, Ghana Educational Service (GES), Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOF) and Ghana National Fire Service to support the application for the issuance of the EA to the Head office of the Controller and Accountant-General's Department.

Mr Sunu therefore submitted invoices for processing to enable him to purchase materials for the project. According to him, Payment Vouchers (PVs) were prepared in the names of two suppliers, Juliana Kumah of Julietor Construction Works and Nana Kuma of Judyjane Enterprise, a dealer in computer accessories and stationery.

Mr Mensah said cheques were duly issued in the name of the two suppliers and given to Mr Sunu together with the PVs to pay the suppliers. He told the 'Times' that during the investigations, the two suppliers admitted paying-in the cheques into their accounts at their respective banks and cashing them back to Mr Sunu after they had taken ?500,000 as bank charges.

Mr Mensah said that the SFO requested that Mr Sunu should be interdicted while the report was sent to the Attorney-General's Department. He was therefore surprised to learn that Mr Sunu had been transferred from Ho to the headquarters of the Controller and Accountant-General's Department in Accra. Mr Mensah said the SFO had ample evidence of such cases and had therefore embarked on a full scale investigations into them.

Officials at the Controller and Accountant-General's Department in Accra confirmed to the 'Times' that Mr Sunu had been transferred from Ho to Accra but had been transferred from Ho to Accra but had been re-assigned to the headquarters of the Civil Servants Association. Efforts by the 'Times' to get in touch with Mr. Sunu of the Civil Servants Offices in Accra for his side proved futile as he was not around.