Mr. Richard Smith-Aidoo, an Assistant Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in charge of investigations and fraud, has been interdicted by the top hierarchy of his office to pave way for investigations into allegations of corruption and fraud brought against him by Goldcity Communications Limited, a company he hoodwinked to employ him this year.
A panel has been set up to investigate him and Chronicle gathered that as at last week, personnel of the Business and Financial Times, which is a subsidiary of Goldcity Communications Limited, armed with documentary evidence, appeared as witnesses before the panel investigating Smith-Aidoo.
Documentary evidence they tendered in included vouchers, a bank cheque and letter of dismissals, all signed by Smith-Aidoo in his capacity as General Manager.
Goldcity Communications Limited were being investigated by the SFO at a time Mr. Smith-Aidoo applied and got employed as the General Manager of the multinational publishing concern.
That was when Goldcity did not know he was a director with the SFO.
Chronicle sources said Smith-Aidoo told his Goldcity employers that he was on leave prior to his resignation from the SFO, which guaranteed his romance with the communications company, even though he later resumed employment with the SFO.
Chronicle gathered that after resuming work with the SFO, Mr. Smith-Aidoo kept faith with both Goldcity Limited and the SFO and tactically shuffled his official hours between the two offices in such a way that his SFO boss hardly suspected he was working and receiving cash full-time elsewhere.
He usually used his lunchtime to see to appointments at his Goldcity offices, it emerged during investigations and he worked impressively too.
Luck, however, eluded him when management of Goldcity Limited later realised they were being fooled as Smith-Aidoo was still at post with the SFO and dismissed him at the end of April, this year, after he had worked with them for four months.
The seriousness of Smith-Aidoo's unethical behaviour is seen in the fact that he worked as General Manager of Goldcity Limited at a time that he was Assistant Director in charge of investigations and fraud at the SFO, which was then investigating Goldcity over some business transactions with the Divestiture Implementation Committee.
After he was dismissed as General Manager of Goldcity Limited, this reporter learnt that Mr. Smith-Aidoo, as a signatory to the accounts, wrote to freeze accounts of Goldcity after he had been asked in writing to return the salaries he illegally collected from Goldcity Limited.
A source said he was taking about ?6,000,000 per month as salary, excluding fringe benefits.
Meanwhile, the issue of returning the salaries he collected from Goldcity Limited could end up in courts even as the SFO probes Smith-Aidoo.
Mr. Smith-Aidoo himself told Chronicle last month via telephone that his lawyers were handling the issue of paying back the cash.
Smith-Aidoo devastated many families as he dismissed as many as five employees of Goldcity Limited and its subsidiary, the Business and Financial Times.
Those he dismissed included two senior editors of the Business and Financial Times, Messrs. Kafui Gale-Zoyiku and Toma Imirhe who have since been reinstated by management after Smith-Aidoo was axed from office.
