Col Kwadwo Damoah Rtd and Kissi Agyebeng(right)
The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, says his office has widened investigations in relation to the Labianca Foods case to cover Customs’ advance rulings and markdowns of benchmark values.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor last week announced it had recovered over GHC1 million from Labianca Foods, belonging to Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh, in unpaid import duties.
The amount represented a shortfall in import duties the frozen foods company paid to the state.
In a statement released from the Office of the Special Prosecutor, Mr Agyebeng said he had written to the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to also submit an integrity plan to prevent corruption.
Outburst
According to reports, last week at a staff retreat in Kumasi, the Commissioner of Customs, Col Kwadwo Damoah (Rtd), challenged the Special Prosecutor’s report, describing it as “hollow”.
“Anybody who has read that report very well would know the basis of that, and luckily for me, God is always on my side. Before that report came, that person had made statement to some people who had come (to tell me that), he was going to publish something that will discredit me and he will do that.
“And I even sent people to go and tell him that he’s a small boy and I am older than him. I have lived a meaningful life and if he attempts to destroy me, it won’t be easy for him. People have tried it; I have survived and this one too I will survive,” Colonel Damoah said at the Kumasi retreat.
However, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has dissociated itself from the outburst by Col Damoah in which he described the Special Prosecutor as “a small boy.”
The Board of the Authority said it “would like to state for the record that it accords the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) the respect and the dignity that the OSP carries.”
“In this regard, the Authority wishes to state that the comments made by the Commissioner of the Customs Division, Col Kwadwo Damoah Rtd, at the Customs Management Retreat on Wednesday, August 10, 2022 on the outcomes of the investigation were made in his personal capacity and do not convey the opinion of the Board and Management of GRA,” the statement stressed.
About The Author
