Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has revealed that Gifty Oware-Mensah, the former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), orchestrated a fraudulent operation that resulted in the misappropriation of more than GH¢30 million in public funds.
During a press conference held in Accra on Friday, June 13, Dr. Ayine stated that these revelations are part of the ongoing investigations conducted by the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) task force into financial misconduct at the NSA.
The Attorney General indicated that Gifty Oware-Mensah took advantage of the National Service Personnel (NSP) allowance system, using it as collateral to secure a loan of GH¢30,698,218.69 from the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) at an interest rate of 23%.
“Certain directors, including Gifty Oware-Mensah, devised and implemented a carefully constructed scheme, leveraging NSP allowances as collateral to acquire 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 is accused of registering a company named “Blocks of Life Consult,” using individuals’ identities without their consent and presenting it to ADB through an intermediary, Maxwell Akwesi Ofori-Mintah.
“Her spouse, Peter Mensah, a lawyer, served as one of the representatives of the company. She informed ADB that the company specialized in providing home appliances to National Service personnel on a hire-purchase basis, with repayments to be managed through deductions by the NSA,” Dr. Ayine remarked, emphasizing that Oware-Mensah was the acting director of the NSA at that time, yet the company was not an approved vendor with the Authority.
Dr. Ayine further noted that during the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 service years, Oware-Mensah utilized 9,934 fictitious names to misappropriate funds.
Following the disbursement of the loan by ADB, the funds were reportedly transferred to four company accounts: AMAECOM, Scafold, OTCHEY, and Aristo Logistics and Trading.
She made the following transfers:
GH¢22,925,518.69 to AMAECOM (a company where she serves as a director),
GH¢1,000,000.00 to Scaffold (associated with Abraham Gaisie),
GH¢1,572,700.00 to OTCHEY, and
GH¢5,200,000.00 to Aristo Logistics and Trading.
The Attorney General indicated that additional legal measures would be pursued as investigations progress into what he characterized as a “deliberate and sophisticated attempt to misappropriate state resources.”
