Ernest Thompson
A former Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Ernest Thompson, and four others have been hauled before an Accra High Court for allegedly causing financial loss of $14.8 million to the state.
The five were dragged to the court for the second time by the Attorney General.
The five were first brought before the court in July 2018 over 29 different charges levelled against them.
The Supreme Court had upheld a Court of Appeal decision that 10 out of the 29 charges against the accused persons had no sufficient particulars of offence.
The AG yesterday amended the charge sheet in conformity with the Supreme Court ruling as required by the 1992 Constitution.
Mr Thompson is facing the court with a former Information Technology (IT) Manager at SSNIT, John Hagan Mensah; a former Head of Management Information Systems (MIS) at SSNIT, Caleb Kwaku Afaglo; the lawyer for SSNIT, Peter Hayibor; and the Chief Executive Officer of Perfect Business Systems (PBS), Ms Juliet Hassana Kramer.
The five were initially charged with wilfully causing financial loss to the state, conspiracy to commit crime, defrauding by false pretence in contravention of the public procurement act and authoring of forged documents.
New case
A principal state attorney, Richard Gyimbibi, yesterday told the Accra High Court that the amended charge sheets were filed on April 20, 2021.
The case will be heard on May 20, 2021 where the accused persons are expected to enter their plea.
The 10 counts amended with further particulars specifically relate to the charges of wilfully causing financial loss to the state, uttering of forged documents and possession of forged documents.
Mr Thompson, Mr Hagan Mensah, Ms Hassana Kramer, Mr Hayibor are those who have been charged with wilfully causing financial loss to the state.
A former Head of Management Information Systems (MIS) at SSNIT, Mr Caleb Kwaku Afaglo, is also facing charges relating to uttering of forged documents and possession of forged documents.
