In testimony before the High Court in Accra, Daniel Osei-Kufuor, husband of former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, revealed that over the past two decades, they began depositing money stolen from their storeroom.
Mr Osei-Kufuor stated that these funds belonged to himself, his wife (Cecilia Abena Dapaah), his wife’s family, and his niece, who was also his client.
Osei-Kufuor, acting as the first prosecution witness, alleged that Patience Botwe and Sarah Agyei, former housemaids, along with five others, conspired to pilfer their money.
“Later on at one of the confrontations where we were present, A1 (Patience Botwe) stated that the method adopted was that A2 (Sarah Agyei) would be in the room operating and A1 (Botwe) would be at the gate watching out and then A3 (Benjamin Sowah) supplied the main keys of the House for A1 (Botwe) to cut duplicate keys,” he told the Court under cross-examination.
When questioned further during cross-examination on May 15, Osei-Kufuor affirmed that the practice of depositing money in the storeroom had been ongoing for the past two decades.
He elaborated on the methods employed by the accused individuals to carry out the theft, mentioning that Sarah Agyei would operate in the room while Patience Botwe acted as a lookout at the gate, facilitated by Benjamin Sowah who supplied duplicate keys.
The accused individuals, including Patience Botwe, Sarah Agyei, Benjamin Sowah, Malik Dauda, Christiana Achab, Job Pomary, and Yahaya Sumaila, have denied multiple charges ranging from conspiracy to steal to money laundering.
Despite being granted bail, they remain in custody due to their inability to meet bail conditions.
Osei-Kufuor, an 81-year-old professional architect with over five decades of experience, asserted that the accused stole two sets of US$210,000 and US$200,000, along with £300,000, GH¢300,000 in contributions towards Cecilia Dapaah’s late mother’s funeral, and an additional GH¢50,000 belonging to his wife.
“Subsequently, my wife and I found out that some of our valuables, as well as huge sums of money, had been stolen from the storeroom.
“This included an amount of 210,000 US Dollars which belonged to my wife’s deceased brother, Nana Akwasi Essan II alias Charles Dapaah,” he said.
Other monies he said were stolen from their storeroom were: “Two hundred thousand US Dollars ($200,000 USD) belonging to Dorcas Wiredua, my niece who is also my client.
“Three Hundred Thousand Euros (£300,000) belonging to me,” and “Three Hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHc300,000) being contributions that my wife’s siblings and she made towards the funeral of her late mother.
“Fifty Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHc50,000) belonging to my wife,” he stated.
EIB network’s Legal Affairs Correspondent, Murtala Inusah, reported from the courtroom that lawyers of Benjamin Sowah, the third accused, have been directed to cross-examine the witness on May 20 by Justice Marie-Louise Simmons, the presiding judge, following the conclusion of cross-examination by Counsel for Sarah Agyei, Augustine Gyamfi.