Africa-Press – Ghana. Dr Dominic Akurutinga Ayine, the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General has revealed that eight suspects in the National Service Authority (NSA) scandal have approached him to enter into plea bargaining.
A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor.
These concessions can include a reduction in the severity of the charges, the dismissal of some charges, or a more lenient sentencing recommendation. Plea bargaining serves as a mechanism to expedite the resolution of criminal cases, allowing both the prosecution and the defense to avoid the time, expense, and uncertainty of a trial.
Dr Ayine said the NSA scandal case was due to be filed last week when they stumbled upon further evidence of malfeasance involving an account at the Bank of Ghana to which had been transferred an amount of GHS 189,000,000.00.
“Out of this amount, Eighty Million Ghana Cedis cannot be traced but we found two cheques bearing the name and account details of the former Director General, Mr. Osei Assibey, which had been used to withdraw funds totaling a little under Two Million Ghana Cedis (GHS 2m) from the said account,” Dr Ayine stated.
He added: “We have therefore halted the filing of charges so as to await the receipt of the evidence from the relevant state agencies, including the Bank of Ghana, Ministry of Finance and the Controller and Accountant General.”
Dr Ayine made the revelation in his address at the Government Accountability Series press conference at the Presidency in Accra.
“I am, however, happy to announce that at least eight suspects in this investigation have approached my office for plea negotiations, including three former officers of the NSA,” he said.
He said further: “Some officials have offered to testify against their colleagues and some vendors, and service providers are willing to come clean and testify as prosecution witnesses.”
Touching on the Operation Recover All Loots (ORAL), Dr Ayine said a report on the dockets for the ORAL cases including the Mathematical Sets, the All Africa Games, and the District Roads Improvement Programme (DRIP) scandals were being prepared by the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) for my attention.
He said he expected to receive that investigative report in a few weeks for work to begin on filing charges in court.
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