Ghana Embassy in DC shut over visa and passport fees scandal

The Ghana Embassy in Washington DC, has been ordered shut immediately and all employees recalled to Ghana following a scandal that has hit the mission.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, announced the drastic decision on his Facebook page Monday morning. He said an employee of the mission working in the IT department had diverted visa and passport fees payment to a private account, and that had been going on for five years.

He also announced the immediate dismissal of the employee involved – one Fred Kwarteng and dissolution of the IT department.

The Minister who said the decision to shut the Embassy has the full backing of the President John Mahama, indicated that the act was discovered by a special audit team tasked with auditing the mission to investigate alleged corruption.

 

According to the Minister, Kwarteng was a local staff recruited on August 11, 2017 to work in the embassy’s IT department.

“According to findings and his own admission, he created an unauthorized link on the embassy’s website which diverted visa and passport applicants to his company, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC) where he charged extra for multiple services on the blind side of the ministry and kept the entire proceeds in his private account.

His illegal extra charges which were not approved by the ministry and parliament as required under the Fees and Charges Act ranges from $29.75 to $60 per applicant. The Investigations reveal that he and his collaborators operated this illegal scheme for at least five years,” the Minister wrote.

He also stated that the conduct has been reported to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution and retrieval of funds obtained through fraudulent schemes.

The Minister further announced that all locally recruited staff at the embassy have been suspended, and the Auditor-General invited to conduct forensic examination of all transactions and to determine the total cost of the elaborate fraudulent scheme.

As a result, he announced a closure of the Ghana embassy in Washington DC for a few days from today Monday May 26, until the ongoing restructuring and systems overhaul are finalised.

The post Ghana Embassy in DC shut over visa and passport fees scandal appeared first on Ghana Business News.

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