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Special Counsel Martin Amidu says Data Bank Financial Services Limited’s involvement in the Agyapa Settlement smacks of “bid rigging.”
Mr. Amidu further alleged that the acquisition process “was manipulated by the Ministry of Finance by adding an unapproved annex for collaboration with a Ghanaian company.”
Mr. Amidu further reveals in his report that other individuals who have business interests in Data Bank, in addition to the Minister of Finance, played various roles that led to the selection of Data Bank.
Felicia Ashley, who is said to work in the Ministry of Finance, is mentioned.
According to Martin Amidu, she had previously served as Vice President and Head of Human Capital and Administration at Data Bank.
Mr. Amidu said that her current role as Director of Human Capital and General Administration meant that she had the responsibility to oversee the processes that saw Data Bank’s involvement.
These disclosures are contained in a Corruption Risk Assessment report conducted by the Special Prosecutor on the Agyapa Royalty Agreement.
How Data Bank got involved
The documents analyzed by the Special Prosecutor indicate that the Deputy Minister of Finance, Charles Adu Boahen, on October 6, 2017, wrote to the then director general of the Public Procurement Authority, Adjenim Boateng Adjei requesting approval of the use of restrictive tenders to select a company willing to offer the government a line of credit backed by accounts receivable.
It is said that in this letter four companies are named; Triple Flag, Navara Capital Limited, Stanbic Bank and Petrodel Investor Limited.
The Special Prosecutor points out that “Imara Corporate Finance” was not part of the four.
Mr. Amidu says that the PPA responded to the Ministry of Finance requesting some documents.
Charles Adu Boahen, according to the Special Prosecutor, later wrote two letters to the PPA.
These letters, he said, were presented to Imara Corporate Finance Limited for the first time.
The Special Prosecutor notes: “There was no request from Data Bank Financial Services Limited of Ghana to the PPA and consequently the approvals did not include Databank.”
It continues that the government then sent a request to the companies approved by the PPA to submit proposals.
The government is said to have stated in this application that “collaboration with eligible Ghanaian companies with complementary capabilities will be favorably considered.”
The Ministry, according to the Special Prosecutor, received only two responses, both with local partners.
However, the Special Prosecutor maintains in his report that the application that was approved by the PPA did not make the approval contingent on any collaboration with eligible Ghanaian companies.
“The insertion of this condition was opaque and contrary to the approval of the PPA in order to prevent corruption and for alleged violations of the Public Procurement Law that may constitute corruption and crimes related to corruption.”
The firms that allegedly met this new condition were Imara with Data Bank as local partners and Morgan Stanley with Boulders Advisors as local partners.
Imara is said to have ranked first in terms of strengths and weaknesses.
The Special Prosecutor’s Office said that this new requirement to have a local partner “made it impossible for the pre-selected European and American companies to meet the requirements.”
He notices; “The Ministry of Finance Request for Proposals process with a rider company smells like bid rigging …”
The Special Prosecutor describes the inclusion of a local motorcycle company as a manipulation by the Ministry of Finance that reduced the risk of corruption.
He adds: “The Ministry of Finance request for proposals process with a rider for collaboration with eligible Ghanaian companies smacks of bid rigging by the Ministry of Finance for Imara’s proposals using Data Bank as a decoy for an examination, analysis. and evaluation of the terms and conditions of the mandate agreement allegedly signed between the Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Republic of Ghana and Imara / Databank “
