The former Director-General of the National Service Authority (NSA), Osei Assibey Antwi, has been granted bail by the High Court in Accra in the sum of GHC800 million.
This followed his plea of not guilty to 14 counts of charges on Thursday, October 30, comprising seven counts of causing financial loss, six counts of stealing, and one count of money laundering, under sections 179A(1) and 124(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and section 1(2)(c) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044).
In addition to the bail sum, he is to produce six sureties, and the security for the bail sum must be justified with landed property equivalent to the bail sum.
The court, presided over by Justice Kizita Naa Koowa Quarshie, also ordered that he be placed on the Ghana Immigration Service stop list.
The sureties, the court said, are to deposit copies of their identification cards with the registry of the court.
The accused person is also required to report to the NIB headquarters on the first and third Wednesday of every month. Furthermore, the court ordered the accused to submit all relevant passports and deposit them with the registry of the court.
The prosecution has been ordered to file their prosecution evidence, and the case has been adjourned to December 1, 2025. Mr. Assibey Antwi is accused of misappropriating public funds during his tenure between August 2021 and February 2025.
According to the Attorney-General, between August 2021 and February 2025, Antwi allegedly authorized payments of GHC500.86 million in allowances to over 60,000 non-existent (ghost) national service personnel.
Deputy Attorney General Dr. Justice Srem Sai, while not opposing bail, stated that under Antwi’s watch, over GHC1.5 billion could not be accounted for, and the bail conditions should compel the accused to stand trial.
Source :www.kumasimail.com
