What happened at MASLOC was not just stealing, but naked theft – Kpemka

A former Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice says the crime that took place at the Microfinance and Small Loans Center (MASLOC), for which the former CEO, Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, has been jailed on charges related to causing financial losses to the state, including conspiracy to steal is unacceptable.

According to Joseph Dindiok Kpemka Esq, he was amazed when he first viewed documents related to the case.

Speaking News file from JoyNews On Saturday, Mr Kpemka said he could not believe it because the facts were made up. He emphasized: “Because this was simply not theft, but naked theft.”

“In one of the charges, the boss of MASLOC decided to give a loan to a rural bank and they did not even reach an agreement, but still the money was transferred to the rural bank. When the money was in the rural bank account, people asked what the interest is on the money you sent to us.

“Suppose something you should have done earlier was not done, then the interest rate is quoted by Sedina. When the interest rate was quoted, the management of the national bank said: the interest rate you quoted. If we take this money, we can’t make any money from it, so we want to give it back to you.”

Also read: Ex-MASLOC CEO Sedina Tamakloe gets 10 years in prison for causing financial losses to the state

Mr Kpemka emphasized that the former CEO of MASLOC should, as a matter of good business practice, have corresponded with the bank and provided her organization’s account details to the rural bank where the money could be directly deposited, thereby increasing transparency and accountability guaranteed by the production of receipts.

“Do you know what she said, she ordered them to collect the money and take it to Accra and then they collected the money in a GhanaMustGo, took it to Accra, they met at the Baatsona Total gas station and the money was put in her took the trunk and She drove away,” he said.

The former Deputy AG further clarified that MASLOC was supposed to conduct a number of nationwide sensitization workshops for certain categories of persons, with the money involved amounting to about GH₵2 million. He said less than five percent was used for its intended purpose and the rest was shared.

He also cited some cases where MASLOC misused some of the money, stating: “There was a fire disaster and some of the money was allocated to help the victims. Only a small percentage of it was used, the rest was shared.

“There were some phones they had to buy, one in the market cost GH₵100, and the price they quoted was GH₵400 each. It is clear that some vehicles have been purchased. In fact, those vehicles even postponed the trials because we had completed all the charges and then we came across a report saying that vehicles had been purchased. Some were three times the market price, some twice as expensive. the market price, so we had to adjust our costs and include them all.”

He claimed that the former CEO of MASLOC was found guilty of all 78 charges, stating that it is one of the most “sickening cases I have come across in legal prosecution.”

Mr Kpemka stressed that the act of “impunity, naked theft and theft perpetuated by them was frightening.”

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