Witness of AG exposed by own statement to the police

General news for Friday, November 13, 2020

Source: angelonline.com.gh

2020-11-13

The sixth prosecution witness in the former COCOBOD CEO’s ongoing trial and two others further unraveled the state’s case after their own statement to police and COCOBOD documents contradicted their chief evidence.

At first, the witness, Peter Osei Amoako, COCOBOD’s CFO, told the court that it was the former CEO, Dr. Stephen Opuni, who authorized all payments to Agricult Ghana Limited for the supply of fertilizers between 2014 and 2016 .

He said this on Thursday, November 12, 2020, when it was presented as evidence by Chief State Attorney Stella Ohene Appiah.

“Looking at the Exhibit EE series to the GG series, who authorized all these payments?” The prosecution asked the witness. He replied, “the payments were authorized by the Chief Executive Officer.”

Peter Amoako was also asked to name the CEO who authorized the payments and named Dr. Stephen Opuni.

However, when questioned by Dr. Opuni’s lead attorney, Samuel Cudjoe, the witness contradicted his own evidence.

He was confronted with his own statement that he gave to police on October 12, 2020 as he prepared to testify against the defendant, and was further bombarded with copies of payment files covering COCOBOD’s transactions with Agricult.

The witness then opened, contrary to his main testimony, that the payments to Agricult were authorized by the Deputy Executive Director of COCOBOD in charge of Finance and Administration, and the Director of Finance, a position he now occupies.

“Mr. Osei Amoako, my question is that from the GG evidence series that you presented this morning in court, it shows which cacao board official authorized payments for agricultural fertilizers in 2016,” Samuel Cudjoe probed.

The witness revealed: “My Lord, the payments were authorized by Deputy CE F&A and the Director of Finance.”

Previously, he confirmed in court that all payment documents approved by the competent authority are sent to the finance department to confirm whether they are included in the COCOBOD budget before the payment is made.

He also told the court that the payment process is initiated by the COCOBOD Procurement Unit.

Former Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) CEO Dr. Stephen Opuni, businessman Seidu Agongo, and Agricult Ghana Company Limited, face 27 charges of intentionally causing financial losses of ¢ 217 million to the state, through three separate contracts of supply of fertilizers between 2014 and 2016.

They have pleaded not guilty to all charges and are on self-recognition bail of ¢ 300,000 each.

Read excerpts from the cross-examination;

Q. Mr. Osei Amoako, Cocobod, as a well-structured institution, you have documents that address all aspects of the procurement with respect to the procurement of all fertilizers that cover the periods of your stay at Cocobod, don’t you?

A. Yes, my lord

Q. In fact, you gave a statement on October 12, 2020

Yes my lord

Q. Can you take a look at this statement? This is the statement you gave to the police on October 12, 2020, right?

A. Yes, my lord.

Attorney: I want to file your return through him subject to us bringing one without any mark.

COURT: Declaration filed not objected, accepted and marked as Exhibit 50 subject to filing a Declaration without trademarks.

Q. Mr. Osei Amoako, in his statement, said that “All documents for procurement and payment activities are in the custody of the Finance / Procurement Department for reference.” It’s not like that?

A. Yes, my lord.

Q. So Mr. Osei Amoako, on page 1, indicated the procedure for awarding the contract and delivering goods and services. It’s not like that?

A. Yes, my lord.

Q. And according to your statement, it is “The Procurement Department initiates all payments after acquiring the goods for the user units by preparing the documentation and sending it to Internal Audit.” It is not

A. Yes, my lord,

Q. Then you also indicated that after Internal Audit recommendation, all payments are sent to DCE (F&A) or CEO depending on amount and approval, right?

A. Yes, my lord

Q. What is the limit per limit? I’m talking about the Deputy Executive Director (F&A) money approval limit

A. My Lord, the limit for the Deputy Executive Director is GHc10,000

Q. So, between 2014, which is January 2014, and December 2016, what was the Executive Vice President’s limit on approving the money payment?

A. My Lord, the limit was GHc10,000.

Q. Then Mr. Osei Amoako also stated the following that “the payment documents approved by the approval authority are sent to the Finance Department for confirmation on the budget.” It’s not like that?

A. Yes, my lord.

Q. Then you said again, “The Finance Department after the review initiates the payment to the payees via check or online transfer.” It is not

A. Yes, my lord.

Q. Then you also stated: “The banks make the payments and the proof of payment is filed in the form of a quick confirmation or bank statement.” It’s not like that?

Yes my lord

Q. So Mr. Osei Amoako, after your statement, the only person who approves the purchase of fertilizers can only be the CEO. It is not

A. yes my lord. Therefore, when he stated in his testimony before this court this morning that then-CEO Dr. Stephen Opuni approved the Farmer payments, he was doing something that every CEO is required to do. It’s not like that?

A. Yes, my lord.

Q. In fact, from your statement I referred to earlier, “Payment documents approved by the approving authority are sent to the Finance Department for confirmation on the budget.” With this statement, the Finance Department has to confirm before the payment is made, right?

A. Yes, my lord.

P. Mr. Osei Amoako. If you look at the series in Schedule GG, that’s the document that covered the payments in 2016 and that you filed with the court. You can take a look, it shows the names of the people who after approval authorized the payments. It is not

R. My Lord, yes, but with explanation. My Lord, at Cocobod, we have two signatories responsible for signing checks and letters of instructions for payments and online payments if required. My Lord, the instruction is the Chief Executive and his three deputies, (F&A, A&QC and Operations), so My Lord, all four are on the “A” side of the mandate. The Chief Financial Officer, the Deputy Chief Financial Officer, and the Account Manager are on the “B” side of the term. The mandate is A & B for the signing of checks and transfers so My Lord, the Chief Executive and his three Deputies, any one of them is eligible to sign on side A. The Director of Finance and the Deputy Director of Finance and the Any of them are also eligible to sign on the B side. However, generally the Deputy Executive Director of F&A and the Director of Finance sign most transactions after approval of the Executive Director.

Q. Mr. Osei Arnoako, my question is from the Exhibit GG series that you presented this morning in court, whose cacao board official authorized payments for agricultural fertilizers in 2016.

A. God, the payments were authorized by the Deputy Executive Director (F&A) and the Chief Financial Officer. Your Honor, this authorization derived from the approval of the CEO.

Q. And indeed, before the Deputy General Manager of M&A and the CFO authorized the payment, all the necessary and relevant authorities in the Finance Department gave the necessary approvals, as can be seen in the documents accompanying the payment authorization.

R. My Lord, yes with explanation. My Lord, my explanation here is that if you look at the referenced document, there is an approval on February 22, 2016 by the Executive Director and that approval was requested by the Deputy Executive Director (F&A) on February 19. , 2016, which granted the Deputy Executive Director and the Director of Finance the authorization to pay

Q. Mr. Osei Amoako, I tell you that this is the correct and normal procedure governing payments at Cocobod.

TO . Yes my lord

Q. And Mr. Osei Amoako, the Cocobod Finance Department together with the Audit Department after approval will not make the payment if these departments are not satisfied.

R. My Lord, yes, but I have to explain. My Lord, the Ghana Cocobod Audit Department will examine the available documents and when those documents are good, make a recommendation, My Lord, the recommendation is not approval. The approval authority has the right to approve or reject the payment. When the approval authority approves the documents, the Finance Department comes in to make the payment.

Q. Mr. Osei Amoako, on all CEO approvals, the Audit department recommended payment before the CEO gave approval. By executive director I mean the first defendant

R. My Lord, yes but with explanation. My Lord, at the time of approval by the Executive Director, he has all the documents in front of him, including the audit recommendation, and the Executive Director can decide whether to approve or not.

Q. Mr. Osei Amoako, the Auditors who worked on these approvals are hired by Cocobod. It is not

A. My Lord, I cannot tell if everyone is in employment.

The case was postponed until November 17, 2020 for further cross-examination.