Former Assembly Member faces charges of fraud and money laundering

A former assembly member of the Adobetor electoral area in La Dadekotpon Municipality, Nii Armah Ashitey, has appeared before an Accra Circuit Court on charges of defrauding by false pretences, using public office for profit, and money laundering.

Ashitey, who was allegedly given GH₵500,000 by the Robert Vogel Memorial Foundation to construct a road and drainage, failed to provide documents and receipts

Read full article.to show that he actually used the funds for the intended purpose, per a Graphic Online report.

The prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Seth Frimpong, said that Ashitey took advantage of the foundation's philanthropic activities and presented the complainants with a bill of quantities on several roads and drains that the assembly had earmarked to construct.

However, the accused person failed to undertake the construction, despite deceiving the foundation manager and director into believing that the selected road and drains at Adobetor area had been constructed with the funds from the foundation.

Investigations revealed that Ashitey simply made false representations to obtain the consent of the foundation's manager and director to part with the GH₵500,000, which he has since misappropriated with no effort or ability to construct the road.

During interrogation, Ashitey told the police that he used all the GH₵500,000 to mobilize the project, but he could not provide any documents or receipts when asked to furnish the police with them.

Prosecution led by ASP Frimpong said that the accused person was a public officer, owing to his status as someone who held office as an elected assembly member for Adobetor electoral area.

The court has admitted Ashitey to bail in the sum of GH₵500,000 with two sureties and adjourned the matter to April 2, 2024.