Dr. Kwabena Duffour, Founder of uniBank, desire to bar the Receiver of his bank, Nii Amanoo Dodoo, from testifying in a case against him and other officials, has been short-lived.
The Supreme Court, in a majority decision of 3-2, ruled that Mr. Dodoo could testify in the trial.
The panel, made up of Justices Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Prof. Henrietta Mensah Bonsu, and Samuel Asiedu formed the majority, while Justices Gabriel Pwamang and Amadu Tanko dissented.
The judgment was delivered on Wednesday May, 2023.
The decision of the Apex Court also affirmed a ruling of the Court of Appeal, as well as that of the trial High Court, that Mr. Dodoo should testify as first Prosecution Witness (PW1) in the case, a position the lawyers for Dr. Duffour had strongly opposed.
It was the defence counsel’s argument that the Receiver had breached sections of the Banks and Specialised Deposit Taking Act, 2016 (Act 930).
Mr. Dodoo was appointed as Receiver of uniBank at a time he was a partner of KPMG, the firm which audited the accounts of the Bank.
Meanwhile, the prosecution, in opposition to Mr. Duffour’s application, stated that PW1 was once a partner of the audit firm, KPMG, and, therefore, testifying in the trial did not hurt the law.
Dr. Duffour, who has once held the position of Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, has been charged with eight others on a total of 68 charges.
The counts are conspiracy, fraudulent breach of trust, money laundering, dishonestly receiving, and falsification of accounts.
The others standing trial with him are a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Johnson Pandit Asiama, Honda Holdings Limited, Kwabena Duffour Jnr., Ekow Nyarko Dadzie-Dennis, Elsie Dansoa Kyereh, Jeffrey Amon, Benjamin Ofori, and Kwadwo Opoku Okoh.
Various sums of money quoted on the charge sheet as allegedly launched and transferred into fictitious accounts are GH¢1,941,901.45, GH¢1,588,831.35, GH¢102,000,000.00, $71 million, GH¢601,305,250, GH¢227,450,000, $9,167,357.12, and $9,546,600.00.
Others are GH¢1,941,901.45, GH¢1,588,831.35, GH¢4,130,637.15, GH¢5,048,560.05, GH¢36,716,792.32, GH¢61,194,653.86, GH¢67,314,119.25, GH¢146,867,169.2, and $13,454,483.47.
The rest are GH¢35,000,000.00, GH¢5,432,500.00, GH¢63,522,592.32, GH¢332,039,936.46, GH¢164,051,706.14, and GH¢48,269,477.75.
Hoda Holdings allegedly received GH¢663,283,917.19.
Mr. Pandit is said to have willfully caused financial loss to the State, contravention of the Bank of Ghana Act 2002 (Act 612) in an amount of GH¢150 million, and GH¢300 million respectively.
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