A private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has burst the burble with regard to the handing over of the case involving the former Minister for Environment and Sanitation, Madam Cecilia, to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
He said it is not every money laundering case that the EOCO can investigate.
On January 25, the Special Prosecutor, Mr Kissi Agyebeng formally announced that his outfit has handed over the case to EOCO because, “The Office has determined that the crime borders largely on money laundering, which falls within the mandate of EOCO.”
However, speaking on the January 25 edition of Ghana Tonight on TV3 with Alfred Ocansey, Mr Kpebu said it might just be the case that even the EOCO would not qualify to prosecute the case.
OSP refers Cecilia Dapaah’s case to Economic and Organised Crime Office | 3News
“Recently, the Supreme Court has been very clear about this jurisdiction of money laundering. The Supreme Court said Even the EOCO that the OSP has sent this case to, EOCO doesn’t have 100% mandate in all money laundering cases. EOCO’s mandate, in the recent Supreme Court ruling- Ex parte Ibrahim Malik, is that EOCO’s mandate to do money laundering cases is limited to cases in which the money is government money.
If you hear money laundering, it means there is a predicate offence. And a predicate offence is, which offence was committed to get that money which is now going to be laundered? And when we say laundered, meaning washing- you’ve stolen money, you’ve gotten money from cocaine, you’ve gotten money from defrauding by false pretenses, name the crime. So, you’ve got money from a certain crime and now you want the money to look legitimate. So, the person brings the money to do real estate business and other businesses.
The thing is that EOCO can only investigate cases in which the crime that was committed involves government money. So far, Mr Agyebeng has not told us the predicate offence,” he explained.
The renowned lawyer therefore suggested that “Based on the Supreme court decision, it is safer that EOCO involves the police so that if it turns out that the matter is not for EOCO, because the police are involved, they take over quickly. Rather than EOCO does it alone and sees that the money is private, it’s not government money and it has to send it to the police.”
Mr Kpebu further proposed that “In future, it means that OSP has to bring in the other agencies. So that at every stage they know what is going on. So that if they take over the case, they don’t have to re-event the wheel.”
OSP withdraws motion to freeze, seize monies, assets of Cecilia Dapaah
Background
The Office of the Special Prosecutor has been in a tussle with Madam Cecilia Dapaah at the Economic and Financial Court 2 since July 2023 after the anti-corruption body began investigations into the former Sanitation Minister over monies stolen from her residence and additional funds subsequently found in her home during investigations.
The OSP commenced investigations citing alleged corruption and corruption-related offences after describing over $1 million found at her residence as tainted.
The case has taken several turns including an appointment of another Judge to preside over the case after the initial judge went on leave.
The genesis of the saga was brought about by Police Prosecutors charging domestic workers for the former Sanitation Minister and her husband for allegedly stealing money and personal items worth millions of Ghana cedis from the couple’s residence at Abelemkpe in Accra.