Former Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, and nine others have pleaded not guilty to the 54 counts of offences in the trial in which they have been accused by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) of extorting GH¢ 291,574,087.19 and $323,407.47 from oil marketing companies (OMCs) between 2022 and December 2024.
That was after the OSP withdrew the charges from the High Court trial originally presided over by Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh where the accused persons had been facing 24 counts.
Following the promotion of Justice Yanzuh to the Court of Appeal, the case in which the OSP amended the charge sheet to increase the counts to 54 was transferred to Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay.
In court yesterday, the accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Charges
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.
The charges include 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.
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.
They are all to remain on their current bail conditions except that they have been asked to report to the court registrar every first and last Tuesday of the month until the final determination of the matter.
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.
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.
