Cecilia Dapaah says US$590K discovered by OSP part of stolen US$1m - Court told

Former sanitation minister Cecilia Dapaah has reduced the amount of money allegedly stolen by her house helps last year, according to a court filing by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

The initial report and court filing against the house helps states that an amount of one million dollars as well as thousands of euros and Ghana cedis were stolen at her Abelemkpe residence.

In the OSP’s current filing in court, it turns out that the minister has reduced the figure by US$590,000, which sum was discovered at the same premises when the OSP conducted a search in her presence at the facility in July.

"She said the US$590,000 which was found by the OSP was a part of the one million dollars which was stolen by the eight people who are now standing trial for theft,” a TV3 journalist confirmed.

The OSP found the dollar sum and GH¢2.8 million in cash during the search.

The OSP subsequently applied to a High Court to seize the funds and to freeze Ms. Dapaah’s accounts on suspicion that the amounts of monies were suspected to be from corrupt proceeds seeing that the minister could not justify the source of the funds.

On the substantive issue of the stolen funds, the OSP said there was no evidence of the source of the stolen funds.

“There are no financial records and traces of the origin(s) of the money reportedly stolen from the residence of the respondents and the money discovered by the OSP at said residence.

"Further, there is no evidence of the amounts of money having been derived from any legitimate businesses, profession or vocation, and no evidence of said amounts having been lawfully declared and subjected to any statutory payments,” the filing read in part.

The OSP unfreezed the former minister's accounts and returned her properties as directed by the court on August 21, the office complied and refroze them again before putting in the current application.

A hearing has been slated for October 18, 2023.

SARA

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