‘Rogue’ GRA staff jailed 12 years

Fuseini Hamza, a staff of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), has been sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for stealing GH¢2,430,774.30.

The Tamale High Court, presided over by Mr. Justice Edward Apenkwah, also fined the convict 3,000 penalty units, equivalent to GH¢36,000, for money laundering or in default serve five years in prison.

The court ordered the confiscation of a house built by the convict in Tamale with some of the stolen money.

It would be recalled that the convict, who was an accounts officer at the Domestic Tax Division of the GRA in Tamale, was arrested for allegedly stealing GH¢2,430,774.30 belonging to the state.

Fuseini Hamza was charged with two counts of stealing and money laundering.

The convict, as part of his duties, was responsible for lodging monies collected by the Authority into its various accounts.

In June 2017, the Northern Regional Accountant of the GRA reportedly discovered that there was a shortfall of GH¢2,430,774.30 in the accounts of GRA during a validation exercise.

When the convict was questioned by the accountant, Hamza said he had lodged all the money into the account of the GRA.

The accountant followed up to the GCB Bank Limited to verify whether or not the convict had deposited the money into the bank account.

After the checks, the accountant was told by the bank that the money had not been lodged into the account.

Upon further interrogation, the prosecutor said the accused admitted that he used the money to acquire property, including two plots of land, a house and 4X4 vehicle.