OSP fears injunctions provide cover for movement of suspicious funds under investigation

Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor, says court injunctions could be used to facilitate the movement of suspicious funds under his investigation from one bank account to another.

He said he had observed an emerging trend where individuals under investigation by his outfit often resorted to the court to seek an injunction to stall the work of the office.

The delays occasioned by the injunctions, he said, often facilitated the movement of funds under investigation from one bank account to another to prevent investigations.

“Most of the time we are dealing with monetary items, there is a case before I became the special prosecutor. The office delayed so much in respect of taking action that before I became the special prosecutor, 45 million cedis had been taken from an account and transferred to another and there was no way you were going to chase the money.” he said.

He added, “If you give someone just five minutes, they will just move funds and finances from one account, and it will end up somewhere. So, by the act of injuncting the investigation, no matter what you do with an appeal, no matter the time you challenge the decision, by the time you come back, you would have lost the funds.”

In an interview monitored by the Ghana News Agency (GNA), the OSP noted that if the trend is not checked, it will encourage people to go to court to injunct investigation and prosecution.

Before granting the injunctions, he urged the justices of the superior and subordinate courts to consider the peculiarity of financial crimes due to the possibility of moving funds from one bank account to another.

This situation, he emphasised, could temper evidence that would be used by the OSP in court in the instant that it intended to prosecute such persons.

In a joint statement, the OSP and Judicial Service Ghana (JUSAG) reaffirmed their commitment to collaborate through coordinated law enforcement and ongoing engagement, while preserving the rule of law and providing fair hearings to all stakeholders in the criminal justice system.

This reaffirmed commitment, the OSP said, sends a strong signal to anyone who is minded to engage in corruption that the courts were alert and will not allow anyone to engage in impunity when it came to corruption and corruption-related activities.

Parliament approved an amount of GHC149 million for the Office of the Special Prosecutor for its operations for the 2024 financial year.

The appropriation, the OSP said, was an improvement; however, he indicated that 60 per cent of the appropriation would be dedicated to salaries and compensation, sparing a small portion on other essential activities.