A private legal practitioner, Kwame Jantuah, has called on State investigative agencies to investigate the origin of the stolen $1 million and thousands of Euros belonging to Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Dapaah, and her husband, Daniel Osei Kuffuor.
The court is currently handling the case of two domestic employees of the couple, who are accused of stealing $1 million and 300,000 Euros, along with other belongings.
While the court has not yet reached a final verdict on the issue, Mr. Jantuah holds the belief that investigating the source of the money will be instrumental in the ongoing fight against corruption.
“If we are able to establish what work he (husband of the Minister) does and that work earns him this kind of money then the major thing there will be taxes. Has he evaded taxes? If it can be proven that this money is not the Minister’s own and she didn’t gain it unscrupulously and the money is genuine where her husband has worked and got that money, then it needs to be proven.”If we are able to establish what work he (husband of the Minister) does and that work earns him this kind of money then the major thing there will be taxes. Has he evaded taxes? If it can be proven that this money is not the Minister’s own and she didn’t gain it unscrupulously and the money is genuine where her husband has worked and got that money, then it needs to be proven.
What I see there, nobody can hold anybody for keeping money in their house. It is the tax element,” Lawyer Jantuah said on the Weekly Review segment on Morning Starr on Starr FM Friday.
He added: “It is open season and I’m not sure the court will ask because that is not what the case is about, it is about stolen money. So the authorities in this country, Special Prosecutor who looks at some of these things should ask the questions. GRA should ask the questions and let’s see where the truth lies. I wouldn’t want to hang somebody with the chain when I really don’t have the facts as to where that money is derived from.
It could be for her husband, if it is for the Minister and if it is for both of them they should prove how that money was made. You cannot bring into Ghana a million dollars at the Airport, you will be questioned, and even when you transfer money into your account here, the bank that you transferred into has a responsibility to tell the Bank of Ghana that e person has put x amount of money in his account. If the Bank of Ghana questions you and you can’t prove the right source, the Bank of Ghana can seize it.