The manager of Gaso Filing Station, Sylvester Koomson, in Wassa Gyapa, Wassa Amenfi East district, has been arrested and remanded by the Tarkwa Circuit Court.
Koomson, who is also a cousin of the filing station owner, Mr. Collins Opoku, is accused of stealing and defrauding the company of over GhC1.2 million over a three-year period.
Collins Opoku entrusted the management of the filing station to Koomson based on trust and family ties. However, upon returning from other engagements and receiving tips from workers, Opoku conducted a financial audit.
The audit revealed that Koomson had allegedly diverted company funds meant for supplier payments into his own pocket, resulting in debts exceeding GhC1.2 million.
In a related development, Joseph Teye, a direct brother of Collins Opoku, was also arrested alongside Sylvester Koomson on charges of defrauding the company of millions of cedis.
Teye, responsible for general merchandise, allegedly defrauded Opoku through over-invoicing, over-pricing, non-payments, and underpayments of merchandise, costing millions of Ghana cedis. Teye is also accused of stealing construction materials, such as cement and wood, meant for projects and smuggling them to Takoradi.
The fraudulent activities of Koomson and Teye reportedly continued until company workers, fed up with their actions, blew the whistle, leading to their arrests.
The duo was arraigned before the Tarkwa Circuit Court, with the investigator ASP Oduro and prosecutor SUP Juliana Essel Dadzie securing their remand for further investigation, in collaboration with the Economic and Organized Crime Organization (EOCO).
Despite a plea for bail from the accused’s counsel, Agbota Esq., the Court, presided over by Her Ladyship Hattia Abena Manu, remanded Sylvester Koomson and Joseph Teye to Police custody. They are scheduled to reappear in court on January 19th, 2024.