EOCO SEEKS FREEZE ON ALL WOYOME' ASSTS

Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome, the embattled business tycoon, though had his freedom to walk about and attend court, his entire property including both financial and physical assets are not exemption from the crime, as the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) is making frantic effort to freeze all accounts and any other financial assets belonging to him.

The EOCO has on January 19, this year obtained an order from the Financial High Court freezing the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) account of Mr. Woyome, where the judgment debt money was paid into.

However, after some weeks into that order, the EOCO yesterday resurfaced with another application to widen the order to cover some other accounts belonging to Mr. Woyome.

According to Ms. Diana Annan, a legal counsel for EOCO, further investigation has discovered some  bank accounts and other financial properties belong to the business mogul and that, the court should vary it order to cover such properties.

Mr. Woyome, the chief architect of the whole judgment debt fraud scandal, was arrested after preliminary investigation into the matter by the EOCO, following a directive from the president.

The EOCO investigation proved that, Woyome used fraudulent means to obtain documents to facilitate his case which earned him a consent judgment at the Commercial High Court against the state.

The investigation report also convinced the EOCO to file a motion on notice to freeze Woyome’s  account where the judgment debt money was paid into, while government on the other side battle the case to set-aside the entire judgment.

However, in response to the application filed by the EOCO, a member of the legal counsel for Woyome, Mr. Evans Anaba , argued that the application was totally defective in law and prayed the court to dismiss it outright.

According to defence counsel, order 46(CI 57) of which the application had been   filed was completely wrong in the face of law, because in his view, the order 46 of the court rule is for civil procedures and not for criminal and that the court should not waste its time to hear it.

But the presiding judge Mr. Justice Bright Mensah, adjourned the case to March 7, for a ruling on  whether or not other accounts and financial assets of Woyome could be attached for freezing.

Mr. Woyome was arrested and arraigned before court upon the EOCO investigation report for defrauding the state to the tune of GHC51.2 million.

He was charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit crime to wit defraud, defrauding by false pretence and corrupting a public officer  in which he denied and is currently on bail in the sum of GHC20 million with three sureties to be justified.

His  alleged accomplices, Samuel Nerquaye-Tetteh, Chief State Attorney, and, Paul Asimenu, the Director of Legal Services, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP), are also  facing various charges for their involvement and are also on bail in the sum of GHC6, 000.00 with a surety each to be justified.

Mrs. Nerquaye-Tetteh, in whose account Mr. Woyome paid GH¢400,000, as an inducement is also standing trial and is on bail in the sum of GH¢500,000 with two sureties.

They are also ordered to report to the police twice a week, preferably Mondays and Fridays.