4 charged over 10 containers of rice seized at Tema Port

 Four public officers charged with corruption over seized rice containers in 2022 valued at more than $200,000 will appear before the High Court in Accra on Friday, June 27.

Issah Seidu, James Keck Osei, John Abban, and Peter Archibold Hyde have been formally charged with corruption after allegedly conspiring to hijack 10 containers of imported rice at Tema Port.

The rice, imported from Thailand in 2022, was fraudulent­ly claimed by Seidu, using fake

 documents and a letter falsely issued from the Office of the Vice President.

Seidu, who works with the National Insurance Commission, and Osei, a former Director at the Vice President’s Secretariat, allegedly teamed up with two senior Customs officials—Abban and Hyde—to override customs processes and secure the goods.

Despite the rice being legally imported and duties paid, the group tried to auction the contain­ers to Seidu. Their plot collapsed after internal investigations and a High Court ruling exposed the

 scheme.

 The facts according to Dr Isidore Tufuor, Director of Prose­cutions, Office of Special Prosecu­tor (OSP) are that in 2022, the first accused, Seidu, was a staff member with the National Insurance Com­mission, Accra and a businessman.

He said the second accused Osei, was a public servant and the Director of Administration at the Secretariat of the Office of the Vice President.

The third accused person, Ab­ban, was a Customs Officer at the rank of Principal Revenue Officer and an investigator with the Ghana  Revenue Authority (GRA).

The fourth accused, Hyde, was a Customs Officer at the rank of Principal Revenue Officer and the Officer-in-Charge of the State Warehouse at Tema.

The facts said on November 10, 2021, the complainant entered into an agreement with Lek Group of Companies, the registered trademark owners of Lele rice, for permission to import 10,000 bags of Lele rice from Thailand.

It said the goods were imported under the business name of Faithy Ventures.

 BY MALIK SULLEMANA

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