I’m not a fraudster – Catherine Afeku

The minister-designate for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Catherine Afeku has strongly dismissed claims that she has been involved in some fraudulent activities in the past.

Appearing before Parliament’s Appointments Committee Monday, the Member of Parliament for the Evalue-Gwira in the Western region, said she and her husband, were involved in a court case in 2007, but it was a civil lawsuit filed by an American couple, as evidenced by public records and a fraud case.

She insisted that there has not been any judgment by any court convicting her of fraud or any other criminal offence.

Mrs. Afeku explained that the case was a civil one instituted by her American business partners against them in 2005 and Judgment was given by the High Court in 2007 for them to refund a sum of $217,000 to their partners.

“I have never been charged with fraud neither have I ever had any criminal background. But in 2007, I had the opportunity to do business with some American partners and it is a simple business relationship that went sour.

“It ended up in court as a civil suit. A judgment was made in their favour and the claims were very clear that a refund of money, a car and interest on the said amount.

“As much as myself, my husband and the company we had established, we did not agree with the judgment but as law abiding citizens we complied and obeyed and I paid a US$117,000…and some change out of the fine of US$217,000.

“In 2013 when we came by fresh evidence in the form of a video recording of the son of our business partners who was actually a witness in the earlier judgment professing, confessing that the entire suit was built on a conspiracy between my business partners and a native of Axim, an elderly man,” Mrs. Afeku said.

“So in that video, based on the evidence we instructed our lawyer, Godfred Dame Yeboah to take it back to Court. So we filed an appeal and…in 2014 the suit was ruled in our favour and an injunction was placed on the earlier judgement. Throughout this court case there was never any findings of fraud.

There was never any findings of criminality. It was purely a civil matter of a business relationship gone bad.”