Former Sanitation Minister Cecilia Dapaah has referred to the Special Prosecutor’s office’s assertions that she is engaged in the real estate business under false names and that her brother’s bank accounts continue to send money to her even after his passing as false.
This are stated in an affidavit filed in opposition to the request for confirmation of Cecilia Dapaah’s re-seized GHC 2.83 million and re-frozen bank accounts.
The OSP submitted the application following the denial of a comparable application by a court order. The office of the special prosecutor provided a number of arguments to support its contention that the money taken from Cecilia Dapaah’s home and the money in her bank accounts are tainted assets in this latest application.
On the reasons for deeming the monies in her bank accounts as tainted property, the office of the Special prosecutor claimed that there were suspicious transactions with her accounts. One of them was that Cecilia Dapaah operated an undisclosed real estate company under the alias name of Nana Yaa Ode.
But Cecilia Dapaah explained that the supposed Nana Yaa Ode is rather her mother.
‘That I have an undisclosed and undeclared real estate business when I have no real estate business and Applicant has not provided a scintilla of evidence that I do. That I concealed my identity by using aliases to sell the property to third parties when Applicant’s own Exhibit OSP16 shows that I rather sold the property in a representative capacity for Nana Yaa Ode. Nana Yaa Ode also known as Nana Ode Nyarko was my mother (now deceased).’ Cecilia Dapaah explained in her affidavit.
The office of the Special Prosecutor further revealed that the Bank account of Cecilia Dapaah’s brother continues to make transactions into her accounts. But the sanitation minister in her affidavit indicated that there is no truth in that claim. She explained that the monies were from Cal bank in the name of his late brother which were used to receive funeral donations.
‘This account was opened with funeral donations collected by Cal Bank at my late brother’s funeral. The correct account name is conspicuously stated in the Applicant’s Exhibit OSP18 and the Applicant could easily have ascertained the mandate on the account from Cal Bank. The funds are transferred to me for payment of the school fees of my late brother’s children.’
On the reseized money, the office of the special prosecutor claimed that the former sanitation minister explained that part of the money was proceeds from a cosmetic company Demacare cosmetics she registered. The anti-corruption agency however raised an issue with the claim.
‘The first respondent also claimed in Exhibit “OSP5” that part of the discovered cash in cedis discovered by the OSP in said residence was proceeds from the sale of her Dermacare Cosmetics business in 2003, which she kept in her house. This heightened the suspicion of the authorized officers of the OSP since the discovered cedi currency notes are in the new cedi denominations introduced in July 2007 and they were not in existence in 2003 when the alleged sale of Demacare Cosmetics was purportedly completed in 2003.’ The office of the Special proscribed said in the application to the court.
But Cecilia Dapaah in her affidavit in opposition indicated that she did not claim to have registered Demacare Enterprise.’
‘I never mentioned registering any business called Dermacare Enterprise. I rather stated “Dermacare shop dealing in cosmetics, skincare, shoes, bags and other miscellaneous items” and that Dermacare was a sole proprietorship. Good faith investigation would have revealed that on 26th July 1994, I registered a business that was carried on at Dermacare Shop in Dzorwulu, Accra.’ Cecilia Dapaah deposed in her affidavit in opposition.
The NPP politician also denied claims by the office of the Special Prosecutor that part of the money was $590,000 dollars of the $1 million dollars allegedly stolen from her home for which 8 persons are facing criminal charges.
