OSP amends charge sheet of Mustapha Hamid, 9 others
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has amended the charge sheet against the former Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, and nine others in the criminal trial of the extortion of GH¢280.51 million from oil marketing companies (OMCs) between 2022 and December 2024.
In the new charge sheet filed at the Criminal Division of the High Court on October 17, the amount the OSP alleged was extorted had been increased from GH¢280.51 million to GH¢291,574,087.19 and $323,407.47 following other discoveries during investigations.
This development has, therefore, increased the counts of offences from 25 to 54, including conspiracy to extort money by public officer, extortion by public officer, using public office for profit, conspiracy to launder money and money laundering.
The OSP said Dr Abdul-Hamid and two other NPA officials — a Coordinator of the Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF), Jacob Kwamina Amuah, and an NPA staff member, Wendy Newman—conspired to extort
GH¢291,574,087.19 and $323,407.47 from the OMC.
If found guilty, each of the three accused persons could face between 12 and 15 years behind bars.
Alongside the three, four other executives of the three companies accused of helping to conceal the alleged stolen funds have also been charged.
They are a Director of Kel Logistics Limited, Albert Ankrah; Director, Kel Logistics Limited, Isaac Mensa; Director, Kel Logistics and Kings Energy Limited, Bright Bediako-Mensah; and Director, Kings Energy Limited, Kwaku Aboagye Acquaah.
The accused persons, who were admitted to bail by the court presided over by Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh, were expected to take their pleas in respect of the new charges.
However, the case was adjourned to November 13, this year, because Justice Yanzuh was recently promoted to the Court of Appeal.
As a result, the court registry is yet to assign a new judge to that court.
Allegations
The OSP alleged that between 2022 and December 2024, Dr Abdul-Hamid, Amuah and a staff member of the audit department of the NPA, Newman, set up a scheme to extort
GH¢ 291,574,087.19 and $323,407.47 from bulk oil transporters and OMCs.
Mustapha Abdul-Hamid — Former CEO of NPA
The scheme, the OSP said, was contrived by Dr Abdul-Hamid, who allegedly sold the idea to Amuah, who also recruited Newman as the primary conduit for receiving the proceeds of the alleged crime.
The OSP alleged that Amuah directly handed GH¢24 million to Dr Abdul-Hamid between January 2024 and December 2024, all alleged to be proceeds of what the OSP described as a criminal extortion scheme.
Within the same period, the OSP alleged that Dr Abdul-Hamid also directly received GH¢ 230,000 from one haulage company.
Out of the GH¢ 291,574,087.19 and $323,407.47 received by Dr Abdul-Hamid, Amuah and Newman, the OSP alleged that GH¢227.23 million and $ 17, 2017.47 were paid through Newman, who allegedly distributed it on the instruction of Amuah.
The OSP said investigations revealed that Ankrah, Mensah, Bediako-Mensah and Acquaah, as well as Adjei, with the complicity of Amuah and Newman, established and ran the three companies with which they proceeded to unlawfully launder the proceeds of the alleged criminal adventure of the top three accused persons through various transfers for the acquisition of movable and immovable property.
“That was to conceal or disguise the illicit origin of the proceeds of the criminal enterprise and to evade the legal consequences of the unlawful activity,” the charges averred.
“Amuah and Newman transferred various sums of money directly to the companies, and funded the purchase and construction of houses, the purchase of trucks for the oil distribution business, and the construction of fuel filling stations,” the OSP stated in the charge sheet.
Bail
Currently, Dr Abdul-Hamid is on bail in the sum of GH¢2 million, with two sureties.
Amuah and Newman are also on bail in the sum of GH¢2 million each, with two sureties each to be justified.
A Director of Kel Logistics Limited, Albert Ankrah; Director, Kel Logistics Limited, Isaac Mensa; Director, Kel Logistics and Kings Energy Limited, Bright Bediako-Mensah; and Director, Kings Energy Limited, Kwaku Aboagye Acquaah, are also on bail in the sum of GH¢2 million, with three sureties each, one of whom must provide justification with a landed property.
