The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has exposed a massive fraud within the National Service Authority (NSA) that led to the loss of more than GH¢548 million.
This financial scandal involved the insertion of fictitious names commonly referred to as “ghost names” into the national service payroll, enabling the illegal diversion of state funds.
At a press briefing held today, Dr. Ayine provided a detailed update on the government’s ongoing anti-corruption campaign under the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative.
Dr. Ayine revealed that the fraudulent scheme was orchestrated by individuals occupying senior positions within the NSA during the administration of President Nana Akufo-Addo.
He described the operation as a “criminal enterprise” that involved not only directors and staff of the NSA but also external service providers who colluded to siphon public funds.
The breakdown is as follows:
ServiceYear. Amounted involved
2018/2019- Ghs 25,857,836.16
2019/2020- Ghs 21,613,962.24
2020/2021- Ghs 55,670,584.32
2021/2022- Ghs 61,383,0 25.74
2022/2023- Ghs 350,926,977.12
2023/2024- Ghs 32,881,157.07
“In total, as stated, we lost about 548,333,542.65 to the criminal enterprise perpetrated by these executives, directors, and staff, as well as the service providers in the market.
“The criminal enterprise that resulted in the loss of this colossal loss of sum of money involved the creation of ghost names in the NSA payroll system by some directors and staff, which was subsequently exploited to misappropriate state funds for their gain,” Dr. Ayine noted.
The investigation was launched following a directive from President John Dramani Mahama, who ordered the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) to probe irregularities at the NSA after uncovering over 8,000 ghost names on its payroll records.
Source :www.kumasimail.com
