The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has disclosed that a finding from an investigation he ordered has exposed how a staff member of the Ghana Embassy, Mr Fred Kwarteng, engaged in fraudulent activities.
The minister said the individual who has admitted to his offences created an unauthorised link on the embassy’s website which diverted visa and passport applicants to his company, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC).
He is accused of charging extra for multiple services on the blind side of the ministry and allegedly kept the entire proceeds in his private account.
Mr. Ablakwa in a Facebook post further revealed that the sacked staff charged illegal fees which were not approved by the ministry and parliament as required under the Fees and Charges Act.
The minister said the charges ranged from US$29.75 to US$60 per applicant.
“The investigations reveal that he and his collaborators operated this illegal scheme for at least 5 years. This conduct has been reported to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution and retrieval of funds obtained through fraudulent schemes.”
The North Tongu MP added that “all Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff posted to the Washington embassy have been recalled home with immediate effect. The embassy’s IT department has been promptly dissolved.
Additionally, “all locally recruited staff at the embassy have been suspended. The auditor general has been invited to conduct a forensic examination of all transactions and to determine the total cost of this elaborate fraudulent scheme.”
Meanwhile, “Ghana’s embassy in Washington DC shall be closed for a few days from today as we finalise the ongoing restructuring and systems overhaul.
Any inconvenience these radical measures may cause visa and passport applicants is regretted,” the minister added.
Read the full post by the Minister below
With the firm support of President Mahama, I have carried out the following drastic and decisive actions following the damming findings of a special audit team i put together a couple of months ago to investigate alleged corrupt practices at Ghana’s embassy in Washington DC:
1) The immediate dismissal of Mr. Fred Kwarteng.
Mr. Kwarteng was a local staff recruited on August 11, 2017 to work in the embassy’s IT department. According to findings and his own admission, he created an unauthorized link on the embassy’s website which diverted visa and passport applicants to his company, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC) where he charged extra for multiple services on the blind side of the ministry and kept the entire proceeds in his private account. His illegal extra charges which were not approved by the ministry and parliament as required under the Fees and Charges Act ranges from US$29.75 to US$60 per applicant. The Investigations reveal that he and his collaborators operated this illegal scheme for at least 5 years.
This conduct has been reported to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution and retrieval of funds obtained through fraudulent schemes.
2) All Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff posted to the Washington embassy have been recalled home with immediate effect.
3) The embassy’s IT department has been promptly dissolved.
4) All locally recruited staff at the embassy have been suspended.
5) The Auditor-General has been invited to conduct forensic examination of all transactions and to determine the total cost of this elaborate fraudulent scheme.
6) Ghana’s embassy in Washington DC shall be closed for a few days from today as we finalize the ongoing restructuring and systems overhaul.
Any inconvenience these radical measures may cause visa and passport applicants is regretted.
President Mahama’s government will continue to demonstrate zero tolerance for corruption, naked conflict of interest and blatant abuse of office.
More updates soon.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
