Inspector-General of Police, Dr George Akuffo Dampare, has disclosed that the police officer at the centre of a CFA190,000 scandal cannot be found.
The issue of the missing monies came to light in a 2020 report by the Auditor-General. The Auditor-General ordered that the monies be recovered.
The report stated that “the Divisional CID, Tarkwa, disclosed that cash exhibits of US$8,100.00 and CFA 40,000.00 retrieved from suspects in 2016 in the case of The Republic versus Nana Akakpo and three others were not available for our audit verification.”
The audit report also recommended that “the Divisional CID in charge immediately produce the exhibit for our inspection, failing which the total sum should be recovered from him and disciplinary action also taken against him.”
Dr Akuffo Dampare who took his turn at the sittings of the Public Account Committee on Thursday, January 19, 2022, disclosed that the investigations by the police led to the discovery that the initial amount was underdeclared by CFA150,000. In essence, the total amount of money was CFA190,000.
He said the police however managed to retrieve the money and sent it to Ivory Coast for verification of the authenticity of the notes. He said “the checks were done and the results with accompanying appendix indicate that they were all fake.
“When they were done, they were sent back to the CID office in Tarkwa. But honourable chair, there has been confusion as to who received it and the whereabouts of the money. Unfortunately, one of the three officers who were involved resigned from the Service and we’re making efforts to look for him to be held accountable.”
He revealed two of the three officers involved have however been interdicted and are the subject of investigations by the Police Professional Standard Bureau.
Dr Dampare also disclosed that the US$8,100.00 which was part of the seized notes and sent to the United States of America for authentication is also missing.
He said that all efforts to retrieve the money which was sent through the US Embassy in Ghana have proven futile.
