Funds received in late brother’s name was to pay his children’s school fees – Cecilia explains
Former Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Dapaah, has refuted claims put forth by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) concerning funds received from her deceased brother’s account.
It will be recalled that the OSP revealed that a bank account belonging to the late brother of Cecilia Dapaah had been actively sending money to the former minister.
The OSP also disclosed that bank documents suggested that the said transactions were as recent as May 23, 2023.
In her affidavit in response to the Special Prosecutor’s statement of claim, Mrs. Dapaah clarified that the monies in question were transferred from an account specifically opened to collect funeral donations for her late brother, named ‘The Late Nana Akwasi Essan,’ which she is a signatory.
“While embarking on a fishing expedition for evidence, the applicant [Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng] recklessly and/or deliberately misrepresented the following facts that money was being transferred from my deceased brother’s account into my account when the truth is that funds were transferred from Cal Bank from an account in the name ‘The Late Nana Akwasi Essan’ to which I am a signatory.
“This account was opened with funeral donations collected by Cal Bank at my late brother’s funeral. The correct account name is conspicuously stated in Applicant’s Exhibit OSP18 and the Applicant could easily have ascertained the mandate on the account from Cal Bank. The funds are transferred to me for payment of the school fees of my late brother’s children,” she explained.
The former minister stressed that the applicant’s motion is absurd, grounded on false allegations and brought in utmost bad faith and brazen disregard of Act 959.
Mrs Dapaah’s court hurdles began when seven persons including her house help were hauled before the court for stealing $1 million, €300,000, and other valuables from her residence.
The OSP subsequently filed a motion to freeze her bank account and monies recovered after searching her residence.
Aside from the funds in her accounts, US$590,000 and over GH¢2.730,000 were also recovered from her residence on July 24.
Below is the former minister’s affidavit in response to the said allegations.