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There is an alleged fraudulent activity at the St Dominic Hospital in Akwatia in the Eastern Region being spearheaded by the Hospital’s Head of Finance, Mr. Yaw Opoku Agyei which is causing government to lose a lot of money.

According to the information Mr. Opoku Agyei has devised a cunning way to dupe government by using newly employed staff from the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) who have been deployed to various hospitals across the country.

His modus operandi has been to back-date appointment dates for the employees, and informs the Banks respectively which effect salary payment based on the date he had given to the Banks.

When salaries are paid into various employee accounts, he then writes to the employees to refund the extra monies paid on their salaries. These monies which are refunded is alleged to believe to end up in his pocket and that of his cohorts and not with the Controller and Accountant General.

One of this suspicious activities is contained in documents available to this paper which have revealed that, on August 5, 2015, the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) wrote to member institutions and requested Financial Clearance for some 419 employees released and engaged in 2015.

The letter also indicated that the Ministry of Health had granted financial clearance to enable CHAG  engage the services of the 429 staff and that their emoluments should be charged against the compensation of employees vote of the Health Ministry in the 2015 Annual estimates.

In view of the letter, the Controller and Accountant General was requested to make salary payment and appropriate deductions of SSNIT and Domestic tax with effect from the date of their assumption of duty.

However, at the receipt of the letter from CHAG and the Ministry, the Administrator of St Dominic Hospital wrote appointment letters to the various employees who are posted to their hospital spelling out their salary details.

According to an appointment letter by the staff (names withheld) they were to start effect work from January 1, 2015.

However, Mr. Opoku Agyei who is vested with the duty of facilitating salary and emoluments payment of staff, wrote to the employees  informing them about mechanization of their employment with the Controller and Accountant General Department (CAGD) where their salaries will come from.

He also stated in that letter addressed to the staff that, “You have been paid a net salary and arrears of GH¢15,034.15 as salary in April 2016. You have been paid an unearned salary for the period from January to August 2015 to the tune of GH¢9,590.27 by the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD).”

This was against the details of their letters of Appointments which indicate that their appointment takes effect from January 1, 2015, a period for which her salaries needed to be paid to her.

Yaw Opoku Agyei demanded that, some of the staff refunds the amount, GH¢9,590.27 to, into a Bank of Ghana Account number, 1018131460031 or suffer non-validation of their salary for subsequent months.

Sensing foul play, the aggrieved staff refused to effect the refund and Mr. Opoku Agyei a dramatic turn wrote a letter on May 24, 2015 to the Bank to place an embargo on the aggrieved staff   GCB accounts.

However, after sensing danger, Yaw Opoku Agyei on June 6, 2016 wrote to the Bank lifting the embargo he placed on the staff’s account, but insisted that an amount of Gh¢9,590.27 from the account be put on hold until further notice.

But when this paper contacted Mr. Yaw Opoku Agyei, he debunked the allegations and stressed that the said monies he has asked the staff to refund goes back to the government chest.

Please stay tuned.