Three former top officials of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) are currently in custody in connection with the ongoing probe into the Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) scandal.
Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, a former Commissioner-General, Dr. Isaac Crentsil, a former Commissioner of Customs, and Christian Tetteh Sottie, a former technical advisor to the Commissioner-General, were arrested and interrogated by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
According to sources at the OSP, Dr. Crentsil and Tetteh Sottie now hold positions at SML, the company at the center of the corruption investigation. Dr. Crentsil is currently the General Manager at SML. The trio reportedly spent the night in National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) cells after failing to meet their bail conditions.
The SML scandal involves questionable transactions and irregularities in contracts awarded to the company. An investigative documentary by former journalists of The Fourth Estate uncovered that SML received over $141 million in government payments despite breaching procurement laws. The company could not provide credible evidence to back claims of substantial revenue savings for the state.
Central to the scandal is a 2023 consolidated contract valued at over $100 million annually and valid for five years, engineered by then-Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. Ofori-Atta has since been declared wanted over alleged corruption and related offenses linked to the deal. Dr. Crentsil played a pivotal role during the initial contract stages between GRA and SML, serving as Commissioner of Customs from 2017 to 2019 and later as a technical advisor to the Ministry of Finance.
The Special Prosecutor’s investigation is ongoing, with the three former GRA officials being held in custody as part of the probe. The outcome of the investigation will determine the next steps in the case, and it remains to be seen how the scandal will unfold.
Source: Apexnewsgh.com/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen
