JUABOSO ASSEMBLY TO SUE BOG ...To recover illegal withdrawals (BACK PAGE, SEPT 21, 2010)

THE Juaboso District Assembly has threatened to sue the Bank of Ghana (BoG) over the alleged illegal withdrawal of monies from its account by a syndicate said to have had the support of some officials of the assembly.
This followed the arrest of a suspect, Nana Kwesi Okyere, who presented a cheque signed by officials of the Assembly to the Takoradi branch of the BoG with the face value of GH¢37,800 with accompanying contract documents, which were said to have been faked.
According to the Assembly, a total of GH¢126,259.40 was illegally withdrawn from its treasury account at the Takoradi branch of BoG between September 2 and 14, 2010, and the Central Bank had to account for it.
It explained that as of September 2, 2010, its balance was GH¢124,948.11 with four authorised withdrawals amounting to GH¢10,411.83, bringing the remaining balance to GH¢114,536.28, with two other deposits credited to the assembly’s account.
Aside that, the Assembly said it had issued a cheque with the face value of GH¢853.17, which was yet to be presented.
According to Mr Solomon Fuachie, the District Chief Executive, seven cheques including those with face values of GH¢22,150, GH¢571, GH¢14,900, GH¢29,200, GH¢8,500 and GH¢32,150 were cashed between September 8, 2010 and September 13, 2010, thereby reducing the balance in the assembly’s accounts to GH¢13,943.22.
All these withdrawals, according to the DCE, were unauthorised and the BoG should have prompted the assembly before honouring them.
The finance officer and the district co-ordinating director, who were signatories to the cheque that gave the syndicate up, were said to have agreed that the signatures looked like theirs, but could not remember signing the cheques.
Mr Fuachie told the Daily Graphic that the bank erred in honouring withdrawals from the assembly’s treasury account.
He said the monies withdrawn were too huge to be paid to a contractor over the counter, adding that all payments to contractors were deposited into their accounts.
When contacted, officials of the Bank of Ghana said they had referred the case to their head office in Accra for advice.