High Court to deliver verdict on GH¢90m MASLOC fraud case on April 16

Ghanaian

The Accra High Court's Financial and Economic Division has scheduled the delivery of the judgment on the alleged GH¢90 million financial loss to the state, caused by Christine Sedina Tamakloe Attionu and Daniel Axim, former Chief Executive, and Operations Manager respectively of Microfinance (MASLOC), on April 16, 2024.

According to a report by The Chronicle, the judgment will be delivered

Read full articleby Justice Afia Serwaa Asare-Botwe, a Court of Appeal judge, with an additional responsibility of the High Court.

The accused, Attionu and Axim, were charged with 80 counts of conspiracy, stealing, and unauthorised commitment resulting in a financial obligation for the government, improper payment, money laundering, and contravention of the Public Procurement Act.

The charges against the two include stealing a total of GH¢3,198,280 while at MASLOC and wilfully causing a GH¢1,973,780 financial loss to the state.

They were also charged with unauthorised commitments resulting in financial obligations for the government to the tune of GH¢61,735,832.50.

In addition to this, the charges against the two also include; GH¢22,158,118.85 loss to public property and improper payment of GH¢273,743.66 as well as money laundering of GH¢3,704,380.

Mrs. Attionu was accused of embezzling GH¢500,000 that was paid by Obaatanpa Microfinance that benefitted from MASLOC support in 2014.

It is also the case of the prosecution that in 2013, after a fire disaster at the Kantamanto Market, then President John Mahama directed MASLOC to provide assistance of GH¢1.46 million to victims of the disaster, but Mrs. Attionu embezzled part of the money.

The second accused, Daniel Axim, denied every other charge leveled against him, claiming he only acted on the instructions of A1 to write memos for the release of funds as well as picking cheques for her.

The former Head of Operations also accused his boss of having a habit of keeping part of the allowances of staff.

Sedina was tried in absentia for failing to return to Ghana after being granted leave to seek medical attention abroad, while Axim closed his defence last week.

After taking flight to the United States for medical treatment in 2022, Attionu's sureties, Alex Mould, the former Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority, and Gavivina Tamakloe have been ordered to pay the bail sum of GH¢5 million.

Per the orders, the state is to freeze the sureties’ assets upon failure to pay the bail.