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How Col Damoah, others allegedly aided importers to evade tax in 2021 says National Security

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Fresh revelations at the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) point to alleged infractions involving the Commissioner of Customs, Col. Kwadwo Damoah (Rtd) and other top officers.

A letter from the National Security dated October 21, 2021, questioned the Customs Division’s conduct during the impounding of some suspicious trucks then.

Deputy National Security Coordinator at the time, Edward Asomani, wrote to the GRA lamenting the conduct.

In the leaked document sighted by Myjoyonline, some trucks loaded with goods were impounded on October 8, last year, after intelligence found that the items had not been described appropriately.

“Reports indicate that a Customs Intelligence team of the Customs—Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (CD-GRA) led by John Agbawu, with assistance from operatives of the Special Monitoring Team (SMT) of the National Intelligence Bureau, on 08/10/2021, intercepted and arrested two cargo trucks at DZORWULU traffic Light, near Fiesta Royale Hotel in Accra on suspicion of under-declaration and mis description of goods,” it read.

The trucks which entered the country through Aflao were escorted to the Customs Laboratory Division at Airport Roundabout for re-examination.

The further assessment confirmed that many of the goods in the trucks were “undeclared and thus, no duties were paid on same.”

How the officers were directed to release the traders and the goods is what seems to have taken the National Security operatives aback.

Per the letter to the GRA, Edward Asomani explained that “the traders were discourteous towards the arresting officers, with one of them allegedly placing a call to Col. DAMOAH, Commissioner of CD-GRA.”

“Subsequently, AGBAWU received a call from one Kojo BONSU, Staff Officer to the Commissioner, instructing him to release the trucks unconditionally.”

The arresting Customs officer, Mr Agbawu, is said to have “received another call from Adu KYEI, Deputy Commissioner of Operations, CD-GRA who also gave similar instructions.”

“Additionally, the trader who placed the call to Col, DAMOAH recorded the arresting officers on video, to be forwarded to him.”

Essentially, the persons were later released allegedly on the orders of the Commissioner of Customs Division of the GRA, Col. Kwadwo Damoah.

The Division’s top officer is currently at loggerheads with the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) over a report earlier this month which uncovered alleged corruption supervised by the former’s outfit leading to a loss of revenue to the state.

The report, which Col. Damoah says is geared towards tarnishing his image, led to the recovery of ¢1 million in duties shortfall from Labianca CEO, Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh over influence-peddling claims.

The report has also triggered a wider probe into activities at the Customs to help plug leakages for which reason the OSP has called for all documents regarding the issuance of rulings and benchmark values applied dating back to 2017.

Mr Kissi Agyebeng has also commenced a full-blown investigation into suspected corruption-related activities in vehicle auction sales and also halted all vehicle auctions until investigations, which span 2017 to date, are over.

But even before the dust settles on these developments, the new letter surfaced.

It was revealed, after the re-examination, that a substantial number of goods in the trucks were undeclared and thus, no duties were paid on same.

The National Security further called on the GRA to commence an investigation into the conduct.

“Given the implications of this development, particularly those related to tax evasion, on the domestic revenue mobilization efforts of GRA, your outfit is urged to investigate the matter and update this Ministry accordingly.”

The letter also demanded that the GRA takes steps “to prevent senior officials from undermining the work of customs officers at the various custom checkpoints across the country.”

How Col Damoah, others allegedly aided importers to evade tax in 2021 says National Security

It is unclear yet the response of the GRA to this said of the letter.

But it comes at a very crucial time when the port has caught the attention of the OSP.

The OSP has already directed the Commissioner of the Customs Division “to produce details regarding the suspected activities before September 30, 2022”.

Source: myjoyonline

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Three people have been arrested by police for displaying firearms on social media

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Three people have been arrested by police for displaying firearms on social media

The police have detained three people for illegally possessing firearms and engaging in vigilantism.

The suspects were apprehended on Monday, March 27, 2023, in Japa, near Wassa Akropong in the Western Region, as part of a police intelligence operation.

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Three people have been arrested by police for displaying firearms on social media

This followed an investigation into a popular social media video in which one person was seen firing at another and threatening violence.

Godfred Appiah alias Nana Kobina Gyan, Isaac Amoako alias Nana Owusu, and Theophilus Yeboah alias Fire are the three.

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Three people have been arrested by police for displaying firearms on social media

The primary suspect, Godfred Appiah, who is seen in the video shooting the firearm, was initially apprehended as part of the Police operation.

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Three people have been arrested by police for displaying firearms on social media

An additional police investigation revealed that Theophilus Yeboah and Isaac Amoako were the supplier and owners of the aforementioned business, respectively.

“A search conducted at the residence of suspect Isaac Amoako led to the retrieval of four (4) pump action shotguns including twenty-four (24) AAA-refilled cartridges. However, he could not produce documents to cover three of the weapons”, the police mentioned in a statement.

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Three people have been arrested by police for displaying firearms on social media

On March 27, 2023, the police arrested three suspects in Japa, near Wassa Akropong, in the Western Region, during an intelligence operation.

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Three people have been arrested by police for displaying firearms on social media

The three suspects, Godfred Appiah alias Nana Kobina Gyan, Isaac Amoako alias Nana Owusu, and Theophilus Yeboah alias Fire, were apprehended after an investigation into a social media video in which one person was seen shooting at another and threatening violence.

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ECG disconnects Osu Police Barracks over illegal connection

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ECG disconnects Osu Police Barracks over illegal connection

The national revenue mobilisation taskforce of the Electricity Company of Ghana disconnected three blocks at the police barracks at Osu in Accra due to an illegal connection (connected power directly without a metre).

The task force discovered the illegality on Tuesday while on its routine rounds to recover customer monies.

Aside from pursuing people who owe ECG debts, the task force takes advantage of the opportunity to look for illegal connections.

“Since it’s an illegal connection, we have the first right to disconnect before we deal with issues.” The manager in charge of external communications, Laila Abubakari told Citi News.

The disconnection is part of a national exercise to collect monies owed to ECG by customers and to also ascertain the condition of all meters.

“The Ghana police would have to come to ECG where a bill will be generated for them covering a period of 12 months,” she added.

She stated that power would be restored once they paid the surcharge.

“The administration block also owes, but due to security implications, we’ve spared that facility while we discuss further the amount involved. We consider the police accommodation facilities (blocks) a general facility, hence the disconnection”.

Meanwhile, the ECG Revenue Mobilization Taskforce was held hostage for about 30 minutes after they disconnected the Ghana Post Company over GH¢89,000 debt.

On Tuesday, the task force was at the premises to conduct its ongoing revenue mobilisation exercise when staff prevented it from leaving the Accra main office.

The disconnection exercise is in its second week of a month-long national exercise to recover GH5.7 billion from their books.

Source: adomonline.com

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Pastor closes church after winning bet

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Pastor closes church after winning bet

After winning 100 million Ugandan Shillings from sports betting, a pastor in a local church in Uganda abandoned his church members by closing the church.

Explaining his motivation, the overjoyed pastor revealed that the lottery was a gift from God and a quick way to get him out of poverty, which he had been experiencing.

He also revealed that he established the church as a source of income rather than through anointing.

“I must admit I opened this church due to greed but not anointing. I saw how several pastors make money by having large crowds and making false prophecies to attract more,” he opened up.

He stated that running a church without a calling became extremely difficult, resulting in sleepless nights. Burdened with guilt, the pastor chose to close it and seek other sources of income.

“As time went on, I realized this was not right; I started having sleepless nights and I would always have weird dreams.

“Before I opened this church, everything was normal on my side. Even without money, I did not have any strange dreams. So I decided to abolish this and look for other ways of making money” he said.

The pastor stated that he tried his luck at gambling, putting a whopping Ush1 million on the line.

“I had to pay for these games and surprisingly it took me about a month to receive them. They told me they had issues with their system and the process of securing games takes time. I almost gave up and called them scammers but they contacted me with the details and wow! I went full swing and got odd of 700,” he said.

He stopped going to church after discovering that he made far more money gambling than he had ever made operating a church in his entire life.

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