The Ghana Police Service has slapped the son of former Managing Director of the National Investment Bank (NIB), Daniel Gyimah, with fresh criminal charges in his case of alleged stealing of money and lands belonging to a supply company contracted by NIB.
The company, Eland International Ghana Limited had been in a long-term relationship with NIB, where government goods are imported through it using NIB as its receiving bank.
Stephen Poku-Gyimah who was put before court in 2019 for his fraudulent activities, is facing six charges including forgery and stealing.
A charge sheet signed by ASP Sylvester Asare of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Police Headquarters lists Fraudulent transactions as the main count.
In the particulars of the charge, Gyimah is accused of granting a 1.80-acre parcel of land in Achimota belonging to Eland International Ghana Limited to his company, Sanis 5115 Limited without authority.
Gyimah was also accused of activities in November 2015, where he made a conflicting grant in respect of the five plots of land situated at Mile 7, Achimota belonging to Eland International Ghana Limited to Fourth Lucky Estate and Modern Engineering Limited.
The younger Gyimah was also accused of forging the accounts of Eland International Ghana Limited at the NIB, where his father headed, to make himself the sole signatory to account numbers 100-01007280-01 and 400-12114048-01, with intent to steal.
It would be recalled that in November 2019, Eland had been accused of fraud and hauled before an Accra High Court for the retrieval of its land, properties and damages.
Stephen Poku-Gyimah had been the first defendant in the case, with a company he is said to have illegally acquired, SANIS 5115 Distribution Limited sued as the second Defendant.
In that suit, Eland accused Poku-Gyimah of various illegalities some of which cited his wife and the use of the state-owned NIB, where his father was once a Managing Director.
Owners of Eland International had said Poku-Gyimah had made a withdrawal of some $1,500,000 from the plaintiff’s dollar account at NIB and was expected to return in excess of US$2, 352, 372, being the total value of the company’s stock he sold, as well as, GHc549, 700.00, also withdrawn from Eland’s Cedi account from NIB, illegally.
in his statement of claim, Eland International Ghana Limited’s lawyers had narrated that Eland which is registered under the laws of Ghana, largely dealt in wholesale goods imported into the country, mostly by government agencies. NIB was the main transaction platform.
Although Mr. Poku-Gyima, had no particular designation in Eland, he as at 2007, was known to co-ordinate affairs in the company using his SANIS 5115 Limited. Eland had in the same year been prevailed upon by Daniel Gyimah, who at the time was the MD of NIB Ghana.
Although Poku-Gyimah at the time reportedly had no business acumen, his father pushed that his son becomes the co-coordinating officer of Eland, in order to use his contacts to expand the company. The company took him to Thailand to meet with the Company’s Directors.
In Thailand, Poku-Gyimah, was asked to suggest a business plan for him to be considered as the business development officer once he was able to prove that he had what it took to develop that area.
A letter was subsequently written to that effect and was issued to the then Company lawyer, Justina Tete Donkor, with copies to the then head of the company in Ghana, Mr. Samuel Ohene Mante. This led to Mr Poku-Gyima, being finally employed as a business development officer in 2007.
The MD of the company, Arvind Kumar Bhatnagar, sometime later travelled out of Ghana to seek medical care and this created opportunity for Poku-Gyimah to plot and steal from the company, according to court documents.
He was tasked to purchase a parcel of land for the construction of a warehouse for the company and so contacted one Winfred Kumah Apawu, to assist him to acquire the said parcel of land.
A land lying at Achimota in Accra measuring an area of 1.82 acres with an existing structure on the Okulley Street near Neoplan Assembling Plant with digital address number GE-373-9223, was thus acquired for that purpose.
The property is now named Voltic House and owned by Mr. Poku-Gyimah.
He claimed ownership of the warehouse and stated that it was a mortgage facility made available for him by Prudential Bank when he was employed. But checks at the Bank indicated that though he was an employee of the Bank from October 17, 2005, and resigned on September 14, 2008, he never got any mortgage facility.
Eland claims that a search conducted at the Lands Commission indicated that, SANIS 5115 Limited is the registered owner of the land even though the land in question was acquired by Eland.