Fresh Info Reveals Massive �Chop Chop�

A little revision in The Enquirer�s recent report on the embezzlement of huge sums of money by revenue officers at the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assembly (LEKMA) in the Greater Accra Region has come in order following the surfacing of additional information. Contrary to the earlier report that the 26 officers involved in the saga had embezzled over 5 billion old cedis, updates on the scandal available to The Enquirer show that the officers had embezzled over 14 billion old cedis. Enquirer�s earlier quotation of GH�591,442.95 as the amount detected to have been stolen by the officers in an internal audit had been based on only three receipts that the paper had sighted. However, an update on the malfeasance shows that as many as 14 receipts were found by the internal audit to have been fraught with various nefarious tampering that led to the diversion of at least GH�1.4 million (14 billion old cedis) into private pockets. The auditor who detected the loot in the review of the assembly�s finances is said to be beside herself with little hope that any worthwhile punitive measures will be meted out to the culprits, because a similar revelation at the Ga South Municipal Assembly had gone unpunished. Following the detection of the embezzlement in March, last year, then Municipal Chief Executive, Daniel Amartey Mensah, summarily dismissed 16 of the revenue officers, while the remaining 10 were put on interdiction and reported to the Kpeshie Divisional Police for investigation and prosecution. Hon. Amartey Mensah, who had caused the arrest of his own aunt, Vida Amartey, for taking part in the embezzlement of the assembly�s funds, also wrote to the Economic and Organized Crimes Office (EOCO) to investigate the embezzlement. However, after EOCO had been signaled in March, last year, to carry out the investigations, sources at the Enquirer that EOCO had since been in inertia and that the new MCE, Seth Badu Tawiah, had also been cold footed about pursuing investigations and prosecution. Yesterday, following The Enquirer�s report of the sources� concerns, the new MDC was seen on Ghana Television in full swing reaction. While claiming he had not been cold footed as The Enquirer had reported and that he had been pursuing the matter, Mr. Badu Tawiah also dropped interesting hints. According to him, after he had written to EOCO and EOCO had responded that it would amount to unnecessary interference in the work of the Kpeshie Divisional police, to whom LEKMA had also reported the case, to carry out a parallel investigation, the MCE said his personal contacts with some of the culprits had led to the mentioning of some big men�s names. Hon. Badu Tawiah clearly reeked of insinuation, in a follow-up interview with The Enquirer in his office Wednesday, this week, when he said that the big men under accusation by some of the culprits were all people in the administration of the former MCE, Hon. Daniel Amartey Mensah. Interestingly, following the replacement of Hon. Amartey Mensah with the current MCE, no notable �big man� has left the assembly along with Hon. Amartey Mensah. It is interesting to note however, that Hon. Amartey Mensah caused the summary dismissal of 16 of the thieving revenue officers and the interdiction of the remaining 10, including his own father�s sister, Vida Amartey, and the wife of former Member of Parliament for Ledzokuku, Nii Nortey Dua. As followers of the scandal eagerly look forward to the prosecution of the revenue officers who stole the assembly�s billions, it remains to be seen if the mudslinging that was very implicit in Hon. Badu Tawiah�s interaction on GTV will be attempted. Tongues are wagging at the Assembly that the new MCE is refusing to pursue prosecution because his hands are soiled with freebies that came from some people whose hands are in the 14 billion cedis loot from the assembly�s coffers during a campaign to kick Hon. Amartey out so he can come in. The Enquirer cannot independently verify this. In this Wednesday�s interview, Hon. Seth Badu dismissed any reference of inertia on the case to him. The Enquirer has also seen a copy of a 31st December, 2013 letter that the assembly had written to EOCO requesting action on the case against the revenue officers on interdiction, and EOCO�s 9th January, 2014 reply in which the investigative body said it would not want to launch a parallel investigation into the issue, while the Kpeshie Divisional Police were also investigating same. While things knock things at the assembly, Flagstaff House is aid to have signaled that documents on the matter be furnished to it for the seat of Government�s special investigation. Apparently, this has sent chills down the spines of some people at the assembly and led to the snowball of an impending huge scandal, garnished with explosive revelations. According to the new MCE, some of the embezzlement culprits sang to him like canary birds, mentioning the names of some big men of the Daniel Amartey era as people whose hands are in the 14 billion cedis loot. The Enquirer is waiting for the names to be dropped.