GH¢49million cyber defence software case: Kwabena Adu-Boahene, 3 others plead not guilty to charges
The immediate past Director-General of the National Signals Bureau (NSB), formerly Bureau of National Communications (BNC), Kwabena Adu-Boahene, has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including allegedly causing a financial loss of GH₵49 million to the state in a deal to purchase a cyber-defense software.
This comes after the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dominic Ayine charged Adu-Boahene with three counts of stealing, one count of willfully causing financial loss to the state, one count of using public office for profit, and one count of defrauding by false pretence and one count of obtaining public property by false statement.
Read also: Former National Signals Bureau boss Kwabena Adu-Boahene and three others charged with stealing
Mr Adu-Boahene and his wife, Angela Adjei Boateng, have been jointly charged with one count of collaborating to use public office for profit and one count of conspiracy to steal.
Additionally, the two, together with Mildred Donkor, a former bank relations officer and director of the private company that received the GH₵49 million, and Advantage Solutions System, an alleged beneficiary of the $7 million, have been charged with conspiracy to launder money and a substantive charge of money laundering.
The three pleaded not guilty to the charges when l 1appeared” before the High Court at 5:00 p.m today (April 30) in the presence of their lawyer, Samuel Atta Akyea
The accused persons, are to remain on their respective bails until Friday May 2, for the court to decide whether or not to grant the prosecution’s request to remand Adu-Boahene.
The hearing will be done in chambers at the court presided over by Justice Eugene Nyante Nyadu.
Prosecution’s facts
The prosecution is alleging that while serving as Director-General of BNC in 2018, Mr Adu-Boahene and his@1qqq wife founded a private company named "BNC Communication Bureau Limited," similar to BNC's name.
The Attorney-General stated that in January 2020, Mr Adu-Boahene signed a contract with Israeli company ISC Holdings Ltd. on behalf of the government and the National Security Council for a GH₵49m software called “Cyber Defence System.”
The Attorney-General contends that the GH₵49 million for the cyber-defense software was never received.
He told the court that investigations revealed that no such system was delivered to either the Bureau of National Communications or its successor, the National Signals Bureau, or the Government of Ghana.
He said an inventory confirmation from the National Security Secretariat indicated that the equipment was never received.
The prosecution stated that the total amount of GH₵49m paid from the public BNC account to the private BNC was equivalent to the $7 million.
The prosecution further alleged that Mr Adu-Boahene and his wife transferred funds from the National BNC bank account to the Private BNC account, which were then funneled through a network of companies ultimately owned by Advantage Solutions System.
Additionally, Mr Ayine alleged that investigations suggested that the funds transferred from the National BNC account were, with the assistance of Donkor, used to acquire properties in Accra, Kumasi, and London, as well as a fleet of luxury cars.
The prosecution claimed that these funds also supported the couple's lavish lifestyle and that of their friends.
