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Clearing agent, 44 in court for duping state of GH¢16.4m

A 44-year-old clearing agent, Francis Yaw Terrison is facing trial at an Accra High Court for allegedly duping the state of an amount of GH¢16,369,908.10.

The accused, a Freight Forwarder and the Chief Executive Officer of GATAFX Logistics Limited, a clearing agent company, who operated at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, is said to have forged Customs Excise Duty Documents and GCB receipts between 2014 and 2019 to defraud the state of the amount.

 Mr Terrison is facing three counts of falsification, alteration and forgery of official documents, fraudulently evading customs duties and money laundering.

The facts of the case read in court indicated that the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in recent times had not been meeting its revenue targets and thus, the Intelligence Unit of the GRA decided to conduct thorough audit into transactions of some key freight forwards whose tax returns looked suspicious.

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The court heard that the GRA zoomed on the accused person’s company GATFAX Logistics Limited and discovered that, the accused person’s company had from 2014 to 2019 suppressed customs excise duties to the tune of GH¢16, 369,908.10 for products his company cleared for Max International, a pharmaceutical company based in the United States of America.

The prosecution said as part of investigations, the Intelligence Unit of the GRA on January 1, 2020, wrote to Max International Company, the importer and GATFAX Logistics Limited, the clearing agency and obtained the import documents from 2017 to 2019.

The court heard that when the import documents were scrutinised, it was detected that, the accused person’s company between 2014 and 2019 under declared to Customs the required duty amount which was to be paid to the state, and paid a lesser amount.

The prosecution explained that on the contrary, the accused after paying a lesser amount, then scans the paid duty documents that he had generated from Customs and inserted or doctored the right duty figures which were supposed to have been paid to the state to make it reflect as the amount paid and used the forged receipts and documents to bill the importer, Max International and unduly benefitted from the suppressed amount differences.

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The court heard that during interrogation and in his caution statement, the accused admitted the offence and narrated how he manipulated the system.

The prosecution told the court that the accused said he used proceeds realised from the deal to buy six plots of land at different locations at Oyarifa and Ayi-Mensa, both suburbs of Accra.

The court further heard that the accused used some of the monies to put up three separate storey-buildings on three of the plots.

BY TIMES REPORTER

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NHIA set to boost its cybersecurity and IT Infrastructure

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), in partnership with a leading private cybersecurity solutions provider in Ghana, CyberHawk Limited, is advancing the Authority’s digital infrastructure to ensure seamless operations.

This is to safeguard the Authority’s digital technologies and maintain the trust of active members of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

In this context, the NHIA Management Information System (MIS) Directorate in the Head Office, on February 11, 2024, launched a three-day brainstorming session on the organization’s cybersecurity enhancement agenda.

The MIS Directorate Ag. Director, Mr. Daniel Blankson explained that the collaborative meeting aimed to scrutinize the NHIA’s Information Technology architecture, identifying potential risks and gapsto enhance its cybersecurity posture. 

“By leveraging CyberHawk Limited’s expertise, the NHIA seeks to fortify its defenses against cyber threats, protecting sensitive information and maintaining the trust of its members.”

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Mr. Blankson applauded the synergy between the two organizations and underscored the Authority’s commitment to embracing cutting-edge technologies and innovative solutions to drive its mission forward.

The Head of Information Security and Standards Unit, in the MIS Directorate, Mr. Ebenezer Hooper, highlighted the Authority’s significant milestone on the digital transformation journey.

According to him, the NHIA is actively engaged in fully adopting and implementing modern digital systems to improve its operations.

He said, “The three-day brainstorming meeting will culminate in the development of a robust IT infrastructure, as well as strategic plans to translate security implementations into tangible IT cost savings for the organization.”

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“There is the need to form a steering committee or IT advisory committee, operated under the Board, so that they can pay more attention in protecting the huge IT investment while ensuring cyber security-related policies are well protected,” he added.

The Project Manager of CyberHawk Limited, Mr. Chetan Narayana Murthy, lauded the collaboration and anticipated that it would empower the NHIA to implement comprehensive cybersecurity measures.

According to him, “This is a huge project that will greatly benefit the NHIA by implementing robust cybersecurity measures, safeguarding their systems, and ultimately protecting the sensitive information of NHIA members and healthcare providers.”

A Senior Manager of IT infrastructure, Mr. David Asare Addo, and his colleague, a Senior Manager of Applications, Mr. Enock Afanyi, with the MIS Directorate, gave an overview of the NHIA’s current technological landscape.

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Present at the meeting were representatives from the Claims, Membership and Regional Operations (MRO), Research, Policy, Monitoring, and Evaluation (RPME), Corporate Affairs, the Audit, Administration, and Human Resource Directorates.

Story By : Vivian Arthur

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Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal

Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.


Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.

Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.

Here are the results in Zone Two

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