Court orders arrest of Businessman

Accra, Oct. 12, GNA - A Circuit Court in Accra on Tuesday ordered the arrest of the Managing Director of Bressbrook Enterprise, dealers in electrical materials, for evading Valued Added Tax (VAT) to the tune of more than 2.7 billion cedis.

The order came as result of the Company's refusal to appear in court after the Police had served it with criminal summons. The case of the Prosecution was that in June this year, the Enforcement and Debt Management Unit of VAT found that Bressbrook Enterprise, which had been registered to charge and collect VAT since November 2001, had declared lower sales value to the VAT Service. Bressbrook also issued its own invoices and concealed those invoices in the premises of Reroy Limited, a business operating within the Free Zone enclave.

The Prosecution said on June 2, a team from the Commercial Crime Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and officials from VAT Service searched the premises of Reroy Limited at Tema.

They retrieved official receipt books, invoices, waybills and VAT invoice books belonging to Bressbrook and sent them to the Enforcement and Debt Management Unit of the VAT Service for assessment.

The Prosecution said Mr Wilson Dodofoh, an Accountant of Reroy Limited, who represented the Managing Director during the search, was invited to the CID to submit a written statement but he failed to do so. The Prosecution said an assessment made by the Vat Service revealed that Bressbrook Enterprise had evaded VAT to the tune of more than 2.7 billion cedis.

On September 21, the summons was served on the Managing Director of Breesbrook to appear in court but he failed to do so.