Selormey, Abodakpi To Open Defence
Story:Stephen Sah
The Accra Fast Track Court trying Victor Selormey and Dan Abodakpi,two former Ministers of State for causing financial loss the state to yesterday asked them to open their defence because a prima facie case had been established against them.According to the court, the prosecution had “adduced probative and prudent evidence to make the two open their defence.”It consequently dismissed the submissions of no case made on behalf of the accused persons by their counsel and adjourned the case to November 1, 2004.Dan Abodakpi, a former Minister of Trade and Industry and Victor Selormey, a former Deputy Minister of Finance, have been charged with seven counts of conspiracy to commit crime, defrauding by false pretence and wilfully causing financial loss of $400,000 (¢2.73 billion) to the state.They have denied the charges and the court has granted them self-recognisance bail in the sum of ¢3 billion each.The money was said to have been paid into the local account of Dr Fred Owusu Boadu of Leebda Company, a consultancy firm based in the USA, for feasibility study towards the establishment of a Science and Technology Valley Park Project.But the contract, according to the prosecution, was fraught with irregularities.After the close of the prosecution’s case, counsel for the accused persons made submissions of no case and argued that their clients should be acquitted and discharged because they performed their duties as civil servants.
No comments:
Post a Comment