Accra: A claim by Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, that a Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) account linked to a legal case was closed due to suspicious activities has been contradicted by testimony from the prosecution's fourth witness, Frank Marshal Cromwell, the lead investigator from the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).
According to Ghana Web, Dr. Srem-Sai had stated on Joy News' *PM Express* that the bank closed the account after becoming suspicious of fund movements, raising red flags, and transferring the remaining funds to another company. He emphasized that the prosecution traced these funds to the subsequent company and presented witnesses in court to testify about the fund movements and account circumstances.
However, under cross-examination by defense counsel Samuel Atta Akyea, PW4 Frank Marshal Cromwell presented a different account. He confirmed that a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) had been filed on the UMB account in 2020, based on a screenshot tendered as Exhibit AH, but admitted he had not independently confirmed the filing with the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC). Despite narrations of STRs filed and accepted through goAML from UMB screenshots, Cromwell noted there was no report back from the FIC.
Counsel Samuel Atta Akyea suggested that the absence of a report from FIC indicated no suspicious findings. Cromwell stated that the bank filed the report as required, but this did not mean the bank was the final arbiter of suspicious transactions.
The cross-examination revealed that the principal concern of the purported report was a GHS7.2 million transaction involving the BNC Communications Bureau account, with no suspicion on account opening or cheque deposits labeled as 'BNC Operations'. Cromwell confirmed that no other transactions were identified as suspicious.
In addressing who closed the UMB account, Cromwell testified that it was closed by individuals A1 (Kwabena Adu-Boahene) and A2 (Angela Adjei Boateng) on March 2, 2023, contradicting Dr. Srem-Sai's assertion that the bank's suspicions prompted the closure.