WOYOME CASE, EOCO FILES DEFENCE

 By Felix Engsalige Nyaaba



The Economic and Organised Crime office (EOCO) yesterday formally filed its defence against the interlocutory injunction application filed by the Mr. Alfred Woyome, the controversial business tycoon, who was on Monday this week, remanded in custody by the Financial Court.

Mr. Alfred Agbesi  last week filed an application for interlocutory injunction, seeking the court to as a matter of declaration restrain the Economic and Organised Crime Office from investigation him on the GHC51 million judgement debt payment saga.

According to Mr. Woyome, a plaintiff in this suit, the EOCO has no legal requisite to investigate on matters before court or to further investigation a judgment that has been delivered by a competent court of jurisdiction in the country.

He said the directive by the President to investigation the judgement debt payment was illegal and has no legal substance to investigate him.

He therefore sought an order by the court to among others restrain the EOCO from investigating him, base on the president’s directive.

But the Economic and Organised Crime Office, which had already submitted its interim report to the president, has also filed its defence, challenging the legal locus of the plaintiff to restrain the crime office from investigating him.

The EOCO said, it has the legal mandate to investigate economic and organized crimes in the country, including the activities of the plaintiff and his associates.

However, when the case was called yesterday, Ms Doris Nortey, a member of the legal team for Mr. Woyome, said they have not been served with the copy of the statement of defence filed by the defendant.

She told the court that, the statement of defence filed by the EOCO was late, per the rules of the court, but the court asked that she should be served in the open court.

The defence counsel, Dr. Philip Anderson, therefore, served the plaintiff lawyer in the open court and the presiding judge,Mr. Justice Ofori Atta, adjourned the case to February 13, this year, to hear the application for Interlocutory injunction.