SFO most wanted man resurfaces in Sunyani

ONE OF THE most wanted men on the list of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Mr. Raphael Baffour Awuah has resurfaced in Sunyani. His wife told a Sunyani Circuit Court, presided over by His Honour, Mr. G.H.K. Debrah that if the SFO was seriously looking for Mr. Baffour Awuah, they could have laid hands on him by now.

The revelation of the whereabouts of Mr. Awuah came about when the Counsel for Georgina Addai, wife of the Mim-based businessman, Desmond Charmant, wanted to know who brought her to Sunyani to appear before a Circuit Court in Sunyani, trying a case between Desmond and the wife.

Answering the question from the Counsel, Nana Obiri Boahen, Janet Addai aka Fati Yahaya replied that it was her husband Raphael Baffour Awuah who brought her to Sunyani and both of them passed the night at Tata Hotel in Sunyani, till the following day that he left early in the morning for Kumasi.

Nana Obiri Boahen inquired from Janet Addai whether she knew her husband was on the wanted list of the SFO or not.

Here, she replied in the negative, saying, ?If he is someone being wanted, he would not have been in the country.?

Nana Obiri Boahen declared that Janet Addai was lying to the court that it was her husband who brought her to Sunyani.

Lawyer Boahen was of the view that because of the nature of her husband?s case with the SFO, he could not have traveled to Sunyani with her, but she insisted that it was the husband who brought her.

According to the Counsel, Janet Addai traveled to Sunyani at the expense of Desmond Charmant, the complainant, but she replied in the negative to the assertion.

Nana revealed also that it was a BMW of Desmond Charmant, which had now been given to his Counsel by name Kwame Gyan, which conveyed her to the court premises, but Janet denied this question too.

Chronicle, in an investigation, later established that Mr. Awuah had allegedly absconded with about ?3 billion in 2003 when he was working with the Ghana Free Zone Board (GFZB).

Our investigation revealed that during an interrogation by the SFO, he managed to escape and bolted to London and he had since been on the wanted list of the SFO.

Mr. Baffour, according to our source, was deported to the country by British Immigration and believed to be hiding at Abrepo Kesse, a suburb of Kumasi.

Janet Addai, a former close friend of Georgina Addai, was in the court as a Prosecution Witness in a case between Georgina Addai and her husband, Desmond Charmant.

Desmond has levelled allegations of fraud against his wife, Georgina Addai.

He alleged that the wife had defrauded him of ?979 million, being monies given to her to transact business.

Earlier in the court, the Counsel wanted to know whether Janet Addai was the same Fati Yahaya.

She explained that she never used Fati Yahaya, but rather Adwoa Fati given to her by her pals.

Janet Addai declined further to agree with Nana Obiri Boahen that she had promised to serve as a witness for her friend, Georgina Addai.

On whether Desmond Charmant was cheating her wife, Georgina Addai, Janet said it was rather Georgina who was cheating Desmond, because when she received the money (?979 million), she decided to desert him, adding that Georgina wanted to divorce Desmond because he was old.