Some National Petroleum Authority (NPA) employees will soon face criminal charges from the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) for a variety of unlawful activities, including fraud.
The OSP has disclosed that it is concluding an investigation into a significant corruption scheme at the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), which has turned up over GH¢280 million in unlawful revenues.
Between 2022 and 2024, certain senior NPA officials used their regulatory authority over the downstream petroleum industry to extort huge sums of money from oil marketing companies (OMCs), according to investigations that were started in November 2024.
Last Monday, during a news conference in Accra, Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor (SP), accused those officials of illegally enriching themselves through bribes, threats, coercion, and regulatory intimidation.
According to the SP, the illicit earnings were used to buy 22 fuel haulage trucks, opulent residences and apartments both domestically and overseas, and to start or buy oil marketing firms that directly competed with the enterprises they governed.
“Through careful tracing and trailing of funds, we have uncovered GH¢280,516,127.19 in proceeds of crime,” the SP revealed.
Before the end of this month, he said, criminal charges would be brought against the first group of NPA officials, complicit oil marketing businesses, and their agents.
He stated that the OSP would publish a thorough report detailing each person’s role, assets obtained, and recoveries made when charges were filed.
Following a request from the new leadership of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to begin a new review and investigation into suspected money laundering and financial structuring connected to the former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the OSP has returned the investigative docket involving her to the EOCO for the second time.
Large sums of money and valuable things were found in Ms. Dapaah’s hands, and the OSP started looking into alleged corruption and offenses related to it in July 2023.
The OSP and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted collaborative investigations for almost seven months, but no immediate indication of misconduct in the blocked accounts or confiscated assets was discovered.
Nonetheless, both organizations found compelling evidence of potential financial structuring and money laundering, which are matters outside the OSP’s direct investigative purview.
Because of this, the OSP sent the matter to EOCO in January 2024, which is responsible for financial offenses like money laundering.
However, EOCO returned the docket in May 2024, stating that there was no “predicate offence,” as required by Ghana’s anti-money laundering legislation.
Since money laundering needs to be connected to an underlying crime, which had not been proven in this case, EOCO contended that it could not move forward.
Mr. Agyebeng stated at a news conference on May 14, 2025, that the OSP was asked to resubmit the docket for a second evaluation by the new leadership of EOCO.
According to him, the office complied and sent a copy of the original docket under a cover letter dated May 29.
He promised the OSP’s complete cooperation throughout the review process and expressed hope that the docket’s contents would give EOCO a useful starting point for its investigation.
Separately, Mr. Agyebeng announced that Andy Thomas Owusu and Charles Bissue, the former secretary of the now-defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, had been charged with crimes by the OSP.
He claimed that because of their involvement in illegal mining operations, the two were charged with 15 charges of corruption and related offenses.
According to Mr. Agyebeng, the OSP and the second accused, Andy Owusu, had since come to a plea deal that was sent to the courts for approval.
Mr. Agyebeng stated that the background of Mr. Owusu, his degree of cooperation, the strength of the case, the possible influence on witnesses, and the necessity to prevent drawn-out litigation were some of the elements that led to the agreement’s acceptance.
The agreement is anticipated to be finalized in the next few days, according to the OSP, and includes restitution and reparations to the nation.
Source: newsthemegh.com