The Attorney-General has dragged the Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, before the court to face three criminal counts stemming from an alleged financial transaction with SIC Life Savings and Loans.
The charges filed by state prosecutors against the lawmaker include conspiracy to commit a crime through the intentional dissipation of public funds, intentionally causing financial loss to a public body, and money laundering.
Details emerging from the prosecution’s case reveal that a judgment debt of GH¢14.85 million owed to SIC Life Savings and Loans was allegedly settled for an amount of GH¢5 million.
The state contends that this settlement arrangement led to an intentional financial loss of GH¢9.85 million to the public purse.
Prosecutors further allege that a sum of GH¢1 million was paid directly to the then Managing Director of SIC Life Savings and Loans as part of the controversial deal..
Count One accuses Awuah of conspiring with the former Managing Director of state-owned SIC Life Savings & Loans Company Limited in 2024 to intentionally dissipate GH¢9,850,000.00 belonging to the institution.
Count Two alleges he intentionally caused financial loss to the financial institution in the same sum during a business transaction. Count Three charges him with money laundering for allegedly transferring GH¢1,000,000.00 to the then-Managing Director of SIC Life, knowing the funds were acquired through crime.
According to prosecution facts, SIC LIFE engaged Awuah and his law firm, Sarkodie Baffour Awuah & Partners, in May 2020 to recover a debt of GH¢6,301,018.76 from Equity Savings and Loans Limited. The agreed terms stipulated a 15 per cent legal fee (GH¢945,152.81) plus a 1 per cent expense fee, with SIC Life making an initial part-payment of GH¢284,000.00.
By July 2022, the High Court granted summary judgment against Equity Savings for GH¢10,862,277.94, which later rose to GH¢14,850,776.14 by May 2024 following a revised judgment. To satisfy the judgment, SIC Life attached Equity’s 31.93-acre land at Adamorobe, near Oyibi, valued at a reserve auction price of GH¢25 million.
However, state prosecutors state that while the property remained attached, Equity secretly sold it in March 2024 to Eco Swiss Investment Limited for GH¢21.76 million.
Investigations revealed that Eco Swiss was unorganised and legally non-existent at the time of the agreement, with Awuah allegedly playing a pivotal role in structuring the transaction.
When Eco Swiss later filed a notice of claim in court to halt the public auction, Awuah allegedly encouraged an out-of-court settlement despite knowing the entity’s claims were defective.
On July 18, 2024, a settlement agreement was executed between SIC Life, Equity, and Eco Swiss. Under the terms, SIC Life agreed to accept just GH¢5 million in full settlement of its GH¢14.85 million judgment debt.
The agreement also compelled Eco Swiss to pay Awuah’s law firm GH¢2.2 million in legal fees based on the original judgment debt rather than the reduced settlement, alongside GH¢1 million in auctioneer fees. Consequently, SIC Life received barely three-fifths of the GH¢8.2 million total outlay undertaken by Eco Swiss.
The prosecution notes that the former Managing Director of SIC Life signed the terms without authorization, ratification, or approval from the company’s board of directors, shareholders, or the oversight ministry, the Ministry of Finance.
Furthermore, records show that on November 11, 2024, shortly after receiving his legal fee, Awuah issued a cheque of GH¢1,000,000.00—representing nearly half the payment—to the former Managing Director who approved the settlement terms. Awuah has failed to explain the purpose of the transfer to investigators, and investigations remain ongoing.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana