SP orders Customs to halt all auction sales

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has directed the Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority to immediately halt “all auction sales” of vehicles and other goods as his office commences investigation into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences.

The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has announced his office has commenced investigations into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences related to the auction sales of vehicles and other goods by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority between July 1, 2016 and 15 August 15, 2022.

A statement released by the OSP directed the Commissioner of the Customs Division to produce some pertinent documentation to aid the probe on or before September 30, 2022.

Documentation

The office wants the particulars and clear description of all auctioned items, the quantity of all auctioned items, the prices at which the items were auctioned, the date of each auction sale, and the full names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the successful bidders at all the auction sales.

“The Special Prosecutor further directed the Commissioner of the Customs Division to immediately halt and discontinue all auction sales till the investigation is concluded,” portions of the statement added.

Following the probe that cited Labianca Company Limited for corruption-related acts, the Special Prosecutor has also commenced a wider investigation into the issuance of customs advance rulings and markdowns of benchmark values between July 2017 and December 2021.

The Special Prosecutor had said the Commissioner of the Customs Division was expected to submit the particulars of all applications for customs advance ruling, applications for a markdown of benchmark values, applications for private rulings and class rulings pertaining to the application of customs law and the decision on each of the applications.

Mr Agyebeng had also written to the Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority to immediately halt and discontinue “all auction sales” of vehicles and other goods as his office commences investigation into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences.