On The Matter of Woyome: The State is Complicit in Gargantuan Fraud. Part Two

By Dr. Samuel Adjei Sarfo
Attorney and Counselor at Law

When Woyome wrote his letter to the Attorney General stating that she had a conflict of interest in the appeal she was pursuing against him, I was a little perplexed because of the reason Woyome ascribed to that conflict of interest. He stated that the Attorney General, Ms. Brew Marietta Oppong actually benefitted from the $51 million judgment award which he Woyome procured from the High Court. My initial impression was that if that is true, then it will be in Woyome’s interest to keep quiet, since in the end, the supposed “conflict of interest” actually benefits his cause.
But in a sharp rebuttal, Ms. Brew retorted that the $1 million amount Woyome paid to her firm was actually a debt owed to a client, (Ray Smith) of her former firm, Lithur, Brew and Co., and that she was never directly involved in the actual case in question, and that the amount was not paid to her directly. Her defense was persuasive because if we assumed that she was telling the truth, then she did not do anything wrong. But in her alacrity to convince Ghanaians that she was clean, Ms. Brew made a statement which I found rather disturbing. She stated that Ghanaians should not be distracted by Woyome’s allegations against her because she would do whatever was in her power to retrieve the amount Woyome owed. I did not find her answer to be relevant to anything because the case on which Woyome is being presently pursued has nothing to do with retrieving any money from Woyome. That part of the case was long accomplished by the citizen vigilante, former attorney General Joshua Amidu who has already secured an outstanding judgment from the Supreme Court stating that Woyome should refund the stated amount to government. That judgment, no matter how strange, was not appealed by Woyome, and so the only procedural avenue left is for the government to file the necessary writ of execution to retrieve whatever Woyome owes to it. That writ has so far not been filed, and for nearly a year, no further action has been taken against Woyome to retrieve the amount he owes to the government.
Instead, the government filed a criminal case of fraud by false pretenses, and the charge of causing financial loss to the state against him, and in this matter, Woyome was acquitted and discharged by the High Court. And in the face of the public backlash, the Attorney General’s office, apparently seeking to mollify public disgust, has assured the public that the office is going to seek direction from the Supreme Court as to how to proceed on its judgment against Woyome. My question is, if the attorney general’s office does not know how to enforce a judgment debt against Woyome, what else does the office know? And if we even assume that the office indeed does have a valid reason for seeking direction from the Supreme Court, then why on earth has it been sleeping like Rip Van Winkle for almost a whole year before seeking such a direction? So it is obvious that the Attorney General’s office is playing games with the minds of the general public.
And this is the same mind game that was being played by Ms. Appiah-Oppong when she stated that she was going to fight hard for the Ghanaian public to retrieve the money owed by Woyome; but here is a case where the conduit through which the money could be retrieved has been lying dormant for almost a years. And here is the case where this present matter that the Attorney General is using to throw dust in the eyes of the general public will not lead to any payments by Woyome. The matter is a criminal offense for which punishment is precedentedly incarceration, and not even a fine as such. Other people who were found guilty under these same laws were imprisoned, and never given any option of a fine. So how does one satisfy any debt by pushing for an appeal against criminal charges whose punishment is incarceration?
Now enter the citizen vigilante, former Attorney General Joshua Amidu. He broke his silence on this whole imbroglio by stating that indeed, Austro-Invest Management and Alfred Woyome were legally intertwined in their pursuit of the fraudulent cause of action that led to the payment of the gargantuan amount to Woyome, and that “ Brew Appiah-Oppong as a partner in Lithur, Brew and Co. at the time the NDC Government unconstitutionally paid the over GHC. 51million to the joint beneficiary interest of Austro-Invest and Woyome does not have the impartiality to handle on behalf of the Republic of Ghana any case involving Alfred Agbesi Woyome.”

“The letter dated 18th August 2009 signed by Woyome on behalf of Austro-Invest and on his own behalf and addressed to the then Attorney-General, Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu, making claims for the now unconstitutional payments were made ON THEIR JOINT AND SEVERAL BEHALF. (Emphasis mine).”

“Austro-Invest through its sole shareholder Raymond Smith (Ray Smith) a British citizen resident in Ghana signed an agreement on 16th February 2010 with Alfred Agbesi Woyome for the purpose. The sum of over GHC 51million was unconstitutionally paid by the NDC Government of Ghana to Alfred Agbesi Woyome for the benefit of Austro-Invest and himself.”
Thus the fraud committed upon Ghanaians was by Austro-Invest and Woyome, in which the present attorney general’s law firm played a major role for the plaintiffs. Thereafter, they reaped the benefit of their loot……..

Mr Amidu also shed some light on the high court suit which Ms. Brew Oppong made reference to, and which resulted in the payment of $1 million dollars to Ms. Appiah Oppong’s former law firm. He explains:
“The substance of the High Court suit was a claim for part of the unconstitutional payments made for the joint benefit of Austro-Invest and Alfred Agbesi Woyome. Apparently Alfred Agbesi Woyome had retained part of Ray Smith’s share of the over GH?51million on the ground that he alone bore the expenses in connection with pursuing and obtaining the payment of the money made by the Government.”

“Lithur, Brew and Co. could be liable with Ray Smith for abetment of perjury for the affidavits deposed by Ray Smith and filed in the High Court by them on his behalf. With Mrs. Brew Appiah-Oppong having been appointed the Attorney General it was futile for me to make any report to the police and so I brought this matter to the attention of the Supreme Court in an application for directions. An adverse comment on the conduct of Lithur, Brew and Co. from the Supreme Court bench was published in the media at the time.”
Mr. Amidu also states:

“The involvement of Austro-Invest in the GHC. 51 million Gargantuan scam by Woyome and Austro-Invest facilitated by the NDC Government against the Republic of Ghana is brought out clearly in the unanimous decision of the Supreme Court delivered on 29th July 2014 as follows……..
At this juncture, Mr. Amidu copiously recites the actual judgment of the Supreme Court. But he makes another claim that further indicts the Attorney General in the gargantuan fraud. He eloquently states:

“The Entry of Judgment filed by the Attorney-General, Mrs. Brew Appiah-Oppong at the Supreme Court after the above clear declarations and order was selective and omitted the declarations affecting Austro-Invest and the then Attorney General, Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu, whose conduct in facilitating the payment of the Gargantuan over GHC. 51million were also declared unconstitutional.

Woyome and I opposed the selective entry of judgment in our respective affidavits to the entry of judgment. The Supreme Court agreed with me and struck out the offending entry of judgment for non-compliance with the decision of the Supreme Court.”
Comment: Now concerning this issue, Ms. Brew has questioned how the Supreme Court could have brought a judgment against a non-existent company which was not a party to the suit. The answer is that the Supreme Court did what it did, and it is therefore not enough to merely subject the issue to any legal technicality. The easier way of rebutting this accusation is to put into the public domain all the unimpeachable evidence that will counter what Mr. Amidu is saying.
After all, she has already stated that her firm represented Austro-Invest in its claim that Woyome owed the company. She cannot therefore at the same time rely on any hypothesis that this company does not exist. That would even implicate her further in fraud.

Mr. Amidu further opines:
“Mrs. Brew Appiah-Oppong had all the opportunity to have done the proper professional thing upon becoming the Attorney General and assuming the prosecution of the case in spite of her past association with Austro-Invest at Lithur Brew and Co. She failed woefully in this regard as the evidence before the nation in this matter to-day demonstrates.

“Can Ghanaians then be faulted in speculating that the relationship between Lithur, Brew and Co. as lawyers for President John Dramani Mahama, and Austro-Invest represented by Ray Smith together with the NDC Government’s interest in protecting itself and the powerful persons with the insurance of being card bearing NDC supporters involved in this Gargantuan scam is the fundamental reason for the unprofessional manner the criminal and constitutional matter in this scam have been and are still being handled by the Government?
“I find it impossible not to link Austro-Invest, the main accomplice in the over GHC. 51million scam with the kid gloves with which Ray Smith has been treated and protected by the Attorney General and the unprofessional manner in which Woyome alone has been prosecuted in the criminal matter with the role of Lithur, Brew and Co as lawyers for Austro-Invest”.
My Conclusion: Mr. Amidu has said everything that ought to be said about this day-light fraud perpetrated by the government upon the people of Ghana. If Austro-Invest joined Woyome to file a fraudulent case against the government, how can a lawyer for Austro- Invest which made a claim for its share of the booty turn around to criminalize the booty? And if this person went to the extent of changing the Supreme Court’s judgment, why isn’t she already being prosecuted for fraud?
Now for those unfamiliar with the process of entry of judgment: as a matter of judicial efficiency, the court could ask any party to a civil suit to recite or write out its judgment for the verification and validation of the other party or parties. So the court may not actually write out its own judgment; it may ask a party to do it for its approval. And it is a fact that during this crucial process, certain things could be omitted or inserted if due diligence is not applied. In situations where the court proceedings are recorded, the best way to go is to pay for a copy in order to make sure that the proposed judgment is as it should be. Obviously, the Attorney General might have sought advantage of its entry of judgmnent to clean out the implications of the judgment on her client, and that in itself, would constitute criminality and unethical conduct.
But the more important thing here is that the Attorney General, in view of all the foregoing, is inextricably a part and parcel of the gargantuan fraud, and cannot be seen to be qualify to pursue anybody. The nature and extent of this particular fraud is daunting, and all those involved, including Betty Mould Iddrisu, Barton Oduro, Austro-Invest, Lithur, the high court judge that granted the default judgment, Woyome,……………..should all be prosecuted.
Sadly, in case Ghanaians have forgotten, similarly gargantuan fraud permeates the system, and the culprits of these mighty criminalities are still walking about unprosecuted and unquestioned. One of the first such judgment debts ($5 million) was procured by the Rawlings’ family, although naïve supporters will say Konadu did it. So this whole idea that Rawlings is incorruptible is another firmly planted charade. Indeed, it was for the reason of widespread judgment debt claims that Justice Yaw Apau was appointed Sole Commissioner to investigate all judgment debts paid to date by the government. After two whole years of holding public sittings and concluding hearings on Thursday, November 6, 2014, ask yourself where he is in this whole cacophony? How was his office resourced to expose the gargantuan albeit prevalent and pervasive fraud? Indeed, as President Mahama said, Ghanaians have short memory…
Somebody even whispered to me that government officials originally instigated a bunch of people to stake false claims against the government, and then withdrew any defenses for the judgments to be awarded against it, and thereafter claim their share of the judgment debt. Given the lackadaisical attitude of government officials in the cause of protecting the public purse, there is no reason to think that this rumor is not true.
Elsewhere, not only the tainted Attorney General and his complicit officials, but the whole government should fall upon this gargantuan fraud perpetrated against the people of Ghana. But these supremely criminal elements that perpetrated this unprecedented fraud and aided and abetted in this huge scam artistry are walking about free, and the government is working hard to be re-elected while the people dance in circles over their treasure that has been so soundly looted. Meanwhile, the tragedy of mass corruption still permeates the very fabric of our great nation while its patriots look on helplessly. Indeed, the days of innocence are lost to the dead goats while the scavengers hover too close in festive feast!
Samuel Adjei Sarfo, JD, MA, BA, etc. is an Attorney and Counselor at Law, a Teacher of Lore, Certified High School English Educator, Researcher and Scholar. He can be reached at [email protected]