Former CEO of MASLOC, Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labor, while former Chief Operating Officer, Daniel Axim, has also received a five-year jail term with hard labor.
This verdict comes, despite both individuals, having appeals pending at the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, respectively.
The charges against them, include 78 counts of causing financial loss to the state, stealing, conspiracy to steal, money laundering, and causing loss to public property, all of which contravene public procurement law.
Although, the details of Daniel Axim’s Supreme Court appeal are not disclosed, Sedina Tamakloe Attionu’s two appeals at the Court of Appeals, revolve around her trial in absentia and contesting the judge’s dismissal of her submission of no case.
Deputy Attorney General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, has voiced contentment with the court’s decision to imprison the former MASLOC CEO and COO, despite the pending appeals.
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Sedina Tamakloe Attionu’s appeal against the ruling that she has a case to answer was lodged in August 2023.
However, neither of her appeals had been processed or heard at the time of her conviction in absentia by Justice Afia Serwah Asare Botwe.
Legal experts argue that pending appeals do not halt legal proceedings.
However, according to family sources, Mrs Attionu, did not abscond, but was handed a passport and granted permission to travel to the US for medical treatment and has since been there for that purpose, although the duration of her stay had elapsed.
The two have been on trial since 2019. The state called six witnesses in all while the first accused person Sedina Tamakloe was tried in absentia as she absconded after obtaining the permission of the court to seek a medical checkup outside the country. The second accused person, however, testified in person but did not call any witnesses.
The offences for which the accused persons have been found guilty border on the appropriation of monies meant for MASLOC activities between the period of 2013 and 2016.
In one of the instances, the convicts were found to have withdrawn GHc 500,000 as a loan for Obaatampa Savings and Loans company, but demanded a refund of the amount when the financial institution refused to yield a 24% percentage on the matter.
Evidence presented by the state suggested that even though there was evidence of the said refund to the convicts same was not reflected in the accounts and books of the complainant institution MASLOC.
The duo were also found guilty of appropriating over 1.7 million Ghana cedis meant for a sensitization exercise. According to the facts of the case, MASLOC was expected to provide 20 Ghana cedis each for 85,300 beneficiaries amounting to the 1.7m cedis.
However, only 1,300 cedis was spent for the intended purpose with the rest being misappropriated by the convicts.
Equally only 579,800 out of 1.4 million cedis, was disbursed to the victims of an inferno at Kantamanso with the two accused persons appropriating the remainder.
The case also involved the purchase of some vehicles for MASLOC where monies disbursed for the said purchase were more than the market price of the vehicles at the time and a similar situation with the purchase of some Samsung phones.
The evidence suggested that the amounts were higher than the prevailing market price at the time even though they were bought in bulk.
Following the verdict, Deputy Attorney General Tuah-Yeboah commended the decision, particularly highlighting the assurance that Tamakloe will be brought back to the country to serve her sentence.
“Good news but what is refreshing is that she will be brought down to face the sentence, no problem at all,” he stated.
Tuah-Yeboah elaborated on the implications of the judgment, emphasizing its role in expediting justice. He reiterated Ghana’s legal framework for extraditing individuals from abroad to face legal consequences domestically.
“We have started the process but with this judgment, it’s going to speed up the process. You know in Ghana we have various laws. You can choose to stay away but so far as we have laws for which you can extract from other countries to Ghana, in case there is a judgment against you like this one, be rest assured that she will be brought down to face judgment,” he stated.
The court found both Tamakloe and Axim guilty on 78 counts for causing financial loss to the state, theft, conspiracy to steal, money laundering, and violating public procurement laws, resulting in loss to public property.
The prosecution alleges that the defendants embezzled GH¢3.19 million during their tenure at MASLOC and caused a deliberate financial loss of GH¢1.97 million to the state. Additionally, they are accused of making unauthorized commitments, resulting in financial obligations totalling GH¢61.74 million for the government.
Furthermore, the charges include GH¢22.15 million in public property loss, improper payment of GH¢273,743, and laundering of GH¢3.7 million.
In a significant development, the court granted the prosecution’s request to proceed with the trial in the absence of Attionu on February 24, 2023. This decision came after Attionu was permitted to travel to the United States in 2021 for medical treatment but failed to return, as a report by graphic.com.gh said.
Before the trial in absentia, on January 24, 2023, the court ordered former Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) CEO Alex Mould and actor Gavivina Tamakloe to pay a GH¢5 million bail bond to the state due to their inability to produce Attionu for whom they acted as sureties.
According to the prosecution’s account, in 2017, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) investigated fraudulent disbursements of MASLOC funds involving Attionu and Axim.
The investigations revealed that in June 2014, MASLOC invested GH¢150,000 in Obaatanpa Micro-Finance Company Limited, a licensed Tier II microfinance company in Ejura, Ashanti Region.
Attionu subsequently offered an additional GH¢500,000 investment to Obaatanpa, leading to the issuance of a MASLOC Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) cheque worth GH¢500,000 to Obaatanpa on July 24, 2014.
Upon receipt of the cheque, Attionu allegedly demanded a 24% interest rate from Obaatanpa. When Obaatanpa refused, Attionu demanded a cash refund. Obaatanpa obliged, returning GH¢500,000 in cash to Attionu on August 28, 2014.
Despite acknowledging receipt of the refunded sum in a letter dated August 28, 2014, investigations revealed that MASLOC had no repayment record. It was alleged that Attionu appropriated the GH¢500,000 for personal use.
Additionally, in 2015, MASLOC demanded interest payment on the principal investment from Obaatanpa despite the earlier refund. Subsequent investigations showed discrepancies, suggesting Attionu’s misappropriation of funds.
