Former Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, who has been accused of using his position to conspire with others to extort GH₵280.51 million from oil marketing companies (OMCs), has pleaded not guilty to charges filed by the Special Prosecutor.
Appearing in court yesterday, Dr Abdul-Hamid, said to be the brains behind the alleged scheme, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to extort, extortion, and using public office for profit.
The former NPA boss, who was in court with two other officials of the NPA, was admitted to bail in the sum of GH¢2 million with two sureties.
The two other NPA officials — a Coordinator of the Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF), Jacob Kwamina Amuah, and an NPA staff member, Wendy Newman— were also admitted to bail in the sum of GH¢2 million each, with two sureties each to be justified.
The court instructed that one of the sureties must be a public servant with a net salary of GH¢5,000 in each case, while the other surety must deposit evidence of landed property.
They are to report to the investigator once every two weeks.
Alongside the three, four other executives of the three companies accused of helping to conceal the alleged stolen funds have also been charged.
They are a Director of Kel Logistics Limited, Albert Ankrah; Director, Kel Logistics Limited, Isaac Mensa; Director, Kel Logistics and Kings Energy Limited, Bright Bediako-Mensah; and Director, Kings Energy Limited, Kwaku Aboagye Acquaah.
They have been admitted to bail in the sum of GH¢2 million with three sureties each, one of whom must provide justification with a landed property.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) alleged that between 2022 and December 2024, Dr Abdul-Hamid, Amuah and a staff member of the Audit Department of the NPA, Newman, set up a scheme to extort GH¢280.51 million from bulk oil transporters and OMCs.
The scheme, according to the OSP, was contrived by Dr Abdul-Hamid, who allegedly sold the idea of the criminal adventure to Amuah, who also recruited Newman as the primary conduit for receiving the proceeds of the alleged crime.
Amuah is alleged to have transferred GH¢24 million to Abdul-Hamid between January 2024 and December 2024, all alleged to be proceeds of what the OSP described as a criminal extortion scheme.
Out of the GH¢280.51 million received by Dr Abdul-Hamid, Amuah and Newman, the OSP alleged that GH¢227.23 million was paid through Newman, who allegedly distributed it on the instruction of Amuah.
According to the OSP, investigations revealed that Ankrah, Mensah, Bediako-Mensah and Acquah, as well as Adjei, with the complicity of Amuah and Newman, established and ran the three companies with which they proceeded to unlawfully launder the proceeds of the alleged criminal adventure of the top three accused persons through various transfers for the acquisition of movable and immovable property.
That was to conceal or disguise the illicit origin of the proceeds of the criminal enterprise and to evade the legal consequences of the unlawful activity, the charges averred.
“Amuah and Newman transferred various sums of money directly to the companies, and funded the purchase and construction of houses, the purchase of trucks for oil distribution business, and the construction of fuel filling stations,” the OSP stated in the charge sheet.
