Clearing agency in trouble for attempting to clear container using diplomatic cover
The British High Commission is collaborating with the security agencies, including the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), to investigate circumstances under which a custom house clearing company attempted to clear a container cargo at the Tema Port under a diplomatic cover.
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The company tried using the diplomatic tax exemption facility in order to avoid the payment of import duties.
The company, Supermikes Company Limited, is alleged to have consigned a 40-footer cargo container imported into the country on June 25, 2016 to the British High Commission in Accra.
The contents of the container were declared by the clearing company as hand tools and personal effects.
By using the diplomatic tax exemption facility, the company attempted to avoid the payment of GH¢49,085.49 in import duties.
The British High Commissioner, Mr Jon Benjamin, said the commission was working with the Ghanaian security agencies to expose the faces behind the scam
Checks by the Daily Graphic at the Tema Port revealed that goods meant for the diplomatic community attract no import duties, except for freight charges of GH¢5.
In the same vein, the classification of most diplomatic missions within the low risk category implies that cargoes consigned to them are usually allowed to exit the port without being subjected to the cargo container scanning or physical examination processes.
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Supermikes Limited and another entity, Oslo Shipping Company, are believed to have cleared 32 containers from January to June 2016 using the diplomatic concession facility.
Officials of Supermikes, however, denied knowledge of the latest scam when queried by officials of the Customs Division.
A columnist of the Daily Graphic, Ms Elizabeth Ohene, hinted of the apparent fake diplomatic cover to clear some goods at the Tema Port in her opinion piece published in the newspaper’s edition of Wednesday, 15, 2016.
Reports suggest that custom house clearing agents and freight forwarding agencies which often clear such cargo, with the help of the protocol departments of the diplomatic missions, have thus developed avenues to dupe the state, using the diplomatic tax free facilities to clear individual cargo for which they should have paid import duties.
Investigations
Investigations carried out by the Daily Graphic revealed that imports with the diplomatic labelled containers could only be called for scan and physical examination where there were suspicions that they had consignments that could be different from what had been stated on the customs declaration forms.
According to sources, a second 40-footer container, numbered MSCU 6258856, also came to the port through the same shipping line and consigned to the British High Commissioner by Universal Shipping Limited.
In a similar move, the contents were declared as household goods and personal effects, but checks revealed that the goods included the prohibited CFC used refrigerators and a Mercedes Benz vehicle that had been severed into two to make it look like vehicle body parts.
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Many packages made up of camera bags, washing machines and over 90 assorted household items were also found
The consignee agency, however, in a letter dated July 14, 2016 and signed by Mr Thomas Nyarko Asare to the Tema Sector Commander of the Customs Divisions, sought to change the name of the consignee from the British High Commission to his name.
The request has since been declined by the Customs Divisions, which also went ahead to detain the container for investigations.
Detention
The Assistant Commissioner in charge of General Duties at the Customs Division of the GRA, Mr Felix Mate-Kodjo, who confirmed the incident to the Daily Graphic in Tema, said the first container was found to be holding a Volvo XC 90 four-wheel vehicle, with chassis number YV1Z558841097130, as well as neatly labelled packages belonging to about nine individuals.
According to him, the container, which was detained in June 2016, also had nine used CFC refrigerators and assorted goods which had the names and telephone numbers of the intended owners inscribed on the labels.
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He indicated that initial investigations carried out by the Customs Division suggested that the name of the Head of Protocol at the British High Commission, Mr Seth Appiah-Agyekum, came up during initial investigations to establish why the container, on arrival in Ghana, had the documentation amended to make the high commission look like the original consignee.
Mr Agyekum, who has since deserted his post at the High Commission and gone into hiding, is said to have told Customs investigators that the cargo items found in the container belonged to a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that was being funded by the British government through the High Commission.
Mr Mate-Kodjo said contrary to Mr Agyekum’s claims that the goods belonged to an NGO which had links with the British government through the High Commission, the names and telephone numbers written on the items in the container denied any linkages between the British High Commission or the British government and the NGO.
“They also confirmed that they were expecting some imports from the UK when our officials placed a
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telephone call to them. We are trying to establish whether the British High Commission was actually aware of such practices where imported cargoes from the UK, with diplomatic tags, are consigned to its name,” he said.
He stressed that Customs would want to establish whether the previous consignments cleared under similar arrangements during the half year of 2016 by the agencies actually belonged to the British High Commission.
“We may have to extend our investigations back to 2013 to identify whether similar incidents of fraud came about through similar processes,” Mr Mate-Kodjo stressed.
He hinted that following the fraudulent nature of the process, Customs, after retrieving the duties and penalties, would hand over persons found culpable in the scam to the police for prosecution.
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Concession
Mr Mate-Kodjo called for the tax exemption regime to be examined again because it was one area through which the state was losing millions in revenue.
“Exemptions and tax concessions are one major area where the state is losing revenue and the government ought to take a critical look at the regime and ensure that loopholes within the framework are sealed,” he said.
He also called for a close collaboration between the Customs Division and the various diplomatic missions.
Such a relationship, he said, could allow the division to verify claims made on such imports to ensure that unscrupulous persons did not fleece the state and also bring the name of the missions into disrepute.
High Commissioner
Mr Benjamin, in a response to the Daily Graphic, said the commission filed a formal complaint with the Ghanaian law enforcement agencies when its attention was drawn to the purported incidence of fraud
“As soon as we were made aware of a potential case of fraud perpetrated in the name of the BHC without our knowledge, we immediately contacted Ghanaian law enforcement and are actively working with them to support the investigation into these claims,” he said.
The commission, he said, had an absolute zero tolerance approach to fraud and other forms of corruption and had rigorous systems in place to ensure that any such allegations were handled firmly and immediately.
He intimated that the previous head of protocol at the commission left his employment at the mission as soon as the allegations came to light.
On whether any disciplinary procedures were taken against the said protocol officer implicated in the scandal, Mr Benjamin said, “We cannot, however, comment publicly on internal procedures pertaining to individual employees.”
“However, again, we are actively cooperating with relevant Ghanaian law enforcement bodies to get to the bottom of any customs fraud that might have been committed through the possible fraudulent use of the commission’s name without our knowledge,” he stressed.