Dr. Dominic Ayine, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, has revealed that Gifty Oware-Mensah, the former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), orchestrated a fraudulent scheme that resulted in the loss of approximately GH¢30 million in public funds.
During a news briefing in Accra on Friday, June 13, Dr. Ayine stated that the discoveries are part of the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) task force’s ongoing investigations into financial misconduct at the NSA.
The Attorney General alleges that Gifty Oware-Mensah used the National Service Personnel (NSP) allowance system as collateral to get a GH¢30,698,218.69 million loan from the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) at a 23% interest rate.
“Some directors, such as Gifty Oware-Mensah, created and executed a meticulously detailed plan, using NSP allowances as security to obtain a loan of thirty million six hundred and ninety-eight thousand, two hundred and eighteen cedis, sixty-nine pesewas (GH¢30,698,218.69) from the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) at an interest rate of twenty-three percent (23%).”
She allegedly formed a company, “Blocks of Life Consult,” using people’s identities without their consent, and submitted it to ADB via an intermediary, Maxwell Akwesi Ofori-Mintah.
“Her husband, lawyer Peter Mensah, served as one of the company’s representatives.” She told ADB that the company specialised in supplying home appliances to National Service personnel on a hire-purchase basis, to be repaid through deductions managed by the NSA,” Dr. Ayine said, noting that Oware-Mensah was acting director of the NSA at the time, but the company was not a recognised vendor with the Authority.
Dr. Ayine went on to say that Oware-Mensah diverted monies using 9,934 ghost names between 2022/2023 and 2023/2024.
After ADB approved the loan, the cash were allegedly transferred to four company accounts: AMAECOM, Scafold, OTCHEY, and Aristo Logistics and Trading.
She transferred:
GH¢22,925,518.69 to AMAECOM (a corporation where she is a director).
GH¢1,000,000.00 to Scafold (affiliated with Abraham Gaisie).
GH¢1,572,700.00 for OTCHEY, and
GH¢5,200,000.00 to Aristo Logistics and Trading.
The Attorney General indicated that further legal action would be taken as investigations continue into what he described as a “deliberate and sophisticated attempt to loot state resources”.
