Chief Justice’s US$5 million Bribery Scandal: Plush Houses In High-End Kumasi, Accra Pops Up

The multi-million bribery allegation levelled against Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah has taken a new twist as some plush properties believed to have been bought after he was appointed Chief Justice pops up in Kumasi and Cantonments in Accra.

The Chief Justice has reportedly bought multi-million-dollar houses at Cantonments, Labone and Asokwa in Accra and Kumasi respectively.

These damning revelations are being made by the US-based Ghanaian investigative journalist, Kevin Ekow Taylor. 

He revealed one of the properties in Kumasi to be located on Plot 8 Block F, New Amokom Extension in Asokwa-Kumasi 

Whatsup News is digging for confirmation of the ownership of these properties linked to the Chief Justice. However, Kevin Taylor says he has all the documents with the names of Justice Anin Yeboah as the owner.

“The documents are here. We know these houses belong to the Chief Justice. Nobody can twist anything. These houses were purchased when he became Chief Justice”

Insiders say before Justice Anin Yeboah was appointed by President Akufo Addo as Ghana’s Chief Justice, he did not have any house and had lived in government bungalows throughout his career, including the bungalow behind the Police Headquarters at Cantonments. 

Also in his expose, Kevin Taylor implied that some millions of dollars in bribes may have exchanged hands between some justices of the Supreme Court and Ghana Telecom and that a well-known lawyer, Yaw Oppong had moved some US$200,000 for Justice Baffoe Bonnie and Justice Anin Yeboah at the National Investment Bank.

The bribery scandal against Justice Anin Yeboah broke a few weeks ago when Kwasi Afrifa, a lawyer from the O&A Legal Consult who has been accused of professional misconduct had claimed that his client, one Chief Oyeedom Obrani Kwesi Atta VI had bribed the Chief Justice with a staggering US$ 5 million.

On March 1, 2021, Chief Kwesi Atta VI petitioned the General Legal Council (GLC), accusing Afrifa of squandering some US$100,000 he paid him to undertake “ways and means gymnastics” at the Supreme Court to obtain a favourable judgment in his suit number J8/96/2020.

The chief is in a long-drawn litigation against Ghana Telecom Company Limited for some US$ 16 million in claims.

However, Afrifa in response made a startling revelation about the genesis of his misunderstanding with the chief.

According to Afrifa, Chief Kwesi Atta IV’s accusations were designed to hide a more serious issue involving how he was kicked off the case and replaced with Lawyer Akoto Ampaw, President Akufo Addo’s lead lawyer in the 2021 presidential election petition.

In his counter-petition to the Secretary to the GLC, Mr. Afrifa wrote that he had been engaged as a lawyer for Chief Kwesi Atta VI in the Ghana Telecom litigation but he was replaced by Akoto Ampaw after a misunderstanding between him and his client.

According to him, his client had confidentially informed him that Chief Justice Anin Yeboah had demanded an incredible US$ 5 million for the case to be swung in his favour to get his US$ 16 million pay-out.

“He further informed me that the Chief Justice had demanded a bribe of USD 5,000,000.00for a successful outcome to his case and that he had already paid USD500, 000.00 to the Chief Justice. He further informed me that he was hard-pressed to raise the remainder of the USD5, 000,000.00 and so I should refund some of the GHC 300,000.00 paid to me as fees because he had in line with the advice of the Chief Justice, engaged Akoto Ampaw Esq as Solicitor to continue the case before the Supreme Court,” Afrifa said in a damning revelation.

He continued: “Indeed, he told me that his own investigations which he caused the BNI to conduct shows that the Chief Justice was in the process of acquiring several properties at a posh residential area in Kumasi and therefore needed the money urgently. I told him I was simply not interested in his dealings with politicians and persons wielding power.”

Meanwhile, in an April 28, 2020 ruling in the Supreme Court with a panel of seven judges, Justice Anin Yeboah was the only dissenting Judge amidst the panel consisting of Justice Jones Dotse, Justice Gbadegbe, Justice Yaw Appau, Justice Pwamang, Justice Marful-Sau and Justice Kotey.

The lawyers for Ghana Telecom include Ace Ankomah who is believed to be particularly close to the Chief Justice.

The two have been buddies right from the Ghana law school when a reported scandal involving Ace Ankomah saw Justice Anin Yeboah stand in for him [Ankomah] as the lecturer for Civil Procedure.