Ernest Thompson

State drags Ernest Thompson & co. back to court with improved charges

Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson Apr - 22 - 2021 , 12:23 2 minutes read

The state has for the second time dragged former Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Mr Ernest Thompson, and four others back to the Accra High Court for allegedly causing financial loss of $14.8 million to the state.

The Attorney General (A-G) amended the charge sheet in conformity with a ruling by the Supreme Court, which upheld a Court of Appeal decision that 10 out of 29 charges against the accused persons had no sufficient particulars as required by the 1992 Constitution.

The move followed a decision by the Supreme Court that the charge relating to causing financial loss to the state had no sufficient particulars of offence.

Mr Thompson, as well as a former Information Technology (IT) Manager at SSNIT, Mr John Hagan Mensah, a former Head of Management Information Systems (MIS) at SSNIT, Mr Caleb Kwaku Afaglo, the lawyer for SSNIT, Mr Peter Hayibor and the Chief Executive Officer of Perfect Business Systems (PBS), Ms Juliet Hassana Kramer, were in July 2018, charged with willfully causing financial loss to the state, conspiracy to commit crime, defrauding by false pretence in contravention of the public procurement act and authoring of forged documents.

The new case came up for hearing at the High Court on Thursday.

Charges filed

Graphic Online's Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson reports that a Principal State Attorney, Mr Richard Gyimbibi on Thursday, April 22, 2021 told the Accra High Court that the amended charge sheets were filed on April 20, 2021.

The case will be heard on May 20, 2021 where the accused persons are expected to enter their plea.

The 10 counts amended with further particulars relate to willfully causing financial loss to the state.

Thompson, a former Information Technology (IT) Manager at SSNIT, Mr John Hagan Mensah, the Chief Executive Officer of Perfect Business Systems (PBS), Ms Juliet Hassana Kramer, and a former lawyer for SSNIT , Mr Peter Hayibor are those who have been charged with willfully causing financial loss to the state.

A former Head of Management Information Systems (MIS) at SSNIT, Mr Caleb Kwaku Afaglo, is facing charges relating to uttering of forged documents and possession of forged documents.