The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has begun investigations into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in respect of auction vehicles and other goods by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) between 1 July 2016 and 15 August 2022.
In a statement, the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has directed the Commissioner of the Customs Division to produce some documentation to aid the investigation on or before 30 September 2022.
The office wants the particulars and clear description of all auctioned items, the quantity of all auctioned items, the prices at which the items were auctioned, the date of each auction sale, and the full names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the successful bidders at all the auction sales.
The Special Prosecutor further directed the Commissioner of the Customs Division to immediately halt and discontinue all auction sales till the investigation is concluded.
Following a report that cited Labianca Company Limited for corruption-related acts, the Special Prosecutor commenced a wider investigation into the issuance of customs advance rulings and markdowns of benchmark values between July 2017 and December 2021.
The said report concluded that the owner of the company, Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh, had taken advantage of her position as a Board member of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) at the time to get favours.
The Special Prosecutor recovered over GhC 1 million (¢1.074,627.15) from the company.
A Deputy Commissioner of Customs in charge of Operations, Joseph Adu Kyei, was also cited by the OSP for issuing what it described as an unlawful customs advance ruling.
However, the Commissioner of Customs took exception to this position and accused Mr Kissi Agyebeng of attempting to tarnish his image, following which the OSP called for all documents related to similar transactions by 30 September.