By William
Yaw Owusu
Saturday
February 17, 2018
It is emerging that huge sums of money believed to
have been stolen from state coffers have been traced to foreign accounts.
Sources investigating the stolen cash have said the offshore
accounts are held in Europe, Asia and some African countries where there is
financial stability.
The sources said details of the said accounts had
been identified and it is likely to attract the attention of the Special
Prosecutor, Martin Alamisi Burns Kaiser Amidu, when he is given the nod by
parliament.
Amidu’s
Vow
During his marathon vetting on Tuesday, Mr. Amidu said
that he has the capacity to track all stolen funds stashed in foreign accounts.
“We will trace them and then they have to decide
whether they will come and pay reparation or bring the money back or we will
deal with it,” he said, adding, “There is an international law on politically
exposed persons. If you want to open an account with a certain bank, especially
in the UK and America, they ask you to fill a declaration of consent that if
questions are asked about you, the bank is at liberty to provide them.”
Legal
Assistance
He said, “..... So, legal assistance gives us an
opportunity for those who think they are smart enough to put their monies and go
through the Kotoka International Airport because they are exempted from very
critical screening and deposit them abroad.”
The former Attorney General posited, “I was once the
Minister for the Interior and so I know the security methods of doing it. We will
use these methods.
No
Harassment
Mr Amidu said he was not coming into office to jail
people and would be nice to all those who would show remorse and bring back
their stolen public funds. He pleaded that there should not be any
politicization of issues when people are arrested adding, “Crime is crime
without political colouration and that is how the office will run if I am
approved.
“We should go
back and look at the offences the Special Prosecutor can prosecute. Out of the
10 offences listed with the general provision of other offences, six of them
are misdemeanours, two are felonies, two are unclassified. So for me, the issue
is not necessarily wanting to fill Nsawam with people.”
Justifying his position, he said, “What is the use
imprisoning him if you can’t get the monies back? If he agrees to get the
monies back only for a conviction and probation, I think that is better for the
nation than imprisoning him 10 years, feed him 10 years, give him prison
clothing and if he is grown, he will have chronic conditions and be sending him
to hospital. If you will bring part of the money back or all of it and it is
reasonable, that is the thing I like about this section so that those who think
that the office is just to be there locking people left, right and centre will
realise that the office will act reasonably.”
Mr. Amidu added, “This plea bargaining thing has a
good incentive. If people want to make reparation for the consideration of the
court and go and sin no more, the office will have to take into consideration
all the grounds upon which reparation must be accepted and the reparation must
be reasonable because it will come to the knowledge of the people of this
country.”
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