Ghana First Company Limited has been cleared of any criminal offences leveled against it by contractors working on the company’s toilet projects across the country.
In an advice on the docket signed by a Senior State Attorney for Attorney General, Nana Adoma Osei noted that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana First Company Mr. Frank Akuley did not have the intention to defraud the contractors the company engaged to build toilets in the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
“A careful and painstaking evaluation of the docket reveals that the accused did not have the intention to defraud. The issues in contention are civil nature. The parties are therefore advised to explore the option of ironing their issues out in a civil suit.
“From the forgoing, we disrecommend the prosecution of the accused person. Please, do not charge him with any offence,” a Financial Forensic Unit Duplicate Case Docket R.O No. 39/2021 intercepted by ModernGhana News has stated.
Ghana First Company Limited started a project to construct information technology-based places of convenience across Metropolitan, Municipal and District assemblies in marketplaces, lorry parks, and needy areas throughout the country.
A misunderstanding ensued between Ghana First Company Limited and its contractors in 2019 where the latter accused the former of denying them funds after they have executed the project to a certain level and needed some money to continue as indicated in the contract.
The aggrieved contractors reported the CEO of Ghana First Company to the police. He was invited by the police on March 16, 2021 and upon arrival, Mr. Frank Akuley was arrested and detained. However, after some days of being on remand, he was granted bail and asked to report to the police every Tuesday and Thursday. Information gathered indicated that Mr. Frank Akuley’s properties which include cars, passport and accounts were ceased. He was also dragged to court.
In an advice on the docket by Nana Adoma Osei, a Senior State Attorney for Attorney General stated, “According to the accused, due to the fact that MMDAs delayed in producing the land documents for them to submit to GCB for the release of funds for the company’s operations, it became necessary to generate funds to ran the company. He stated that it was the reason why the company started charging 2% of the contract sum from the contractors from June 2018 to the first quarter of 2019 which was used to fund operations”.
It added, “In order to successfully sustain a charge of defrauding by false pretences against the accused, there must be evidence of intention to defraud. However, from the evidence available in the docket, the accused dealt with the complainants on the basis of the MOU, which at all material times was an existing and binding MOU.
“Accordingly, the accused never made a false statement of fact when he told the complainants that he had funding from Thermodul. The MOU was terminated by Thermodul on 2nd April 2019 at a time when a lot of complainants had already entered into a contract with Ghana First on the basis of MOU”.
The State Attorney noted that: “A careful and painstaking evaluation of the docket reveals that the accused did not have the intention to defraud. The issues in contention are civil nature. The parties are therefore advised to explore the option of ironing their issues out in a civil suit.
“From the forgoing, we disrecommend the prosecution of the accused person. Please, do not charge him with any offence. Your Financial Forensic Unit Duplicate Case Docket R.O No. 39/2021 is hereby returned to you”.
Source: Modern Ghana