The trial of former National Signals Bureau (NSB) Director-General Kwabena Adu-Boahene took a dramatic turn on Monday as an Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) investigator told the court that only GH¢9.5 million of the GH¢49.1 million earmarked for a cyber defence system reached the Israeli supplier.
Frank Marshall Cromwell, an EOCO staff officer and the fourth prosecution witness in the case, disclosed this during cross-examination at the ongoing trial involving Adu-Boahene, his wife Angella Adjei-Boateng, and their company.
According to multiple reports from the proceedings, Cromwell testified that an invoice presented by Adu-Boahene to justify the procurement of the cyber defence system was fake.
The EOCO investigator told the court that although the full GH¢49.1 million was transferred for the acquisition of the cybersecurity system, only GH¢9,537,500 was paid to ISC Holdings, the Israeli company expected to supply the technology.
“In the GH¢49.1 million cybersecurity theft case, the EOCO investigator, Frank Marshall Cromwell, has told the court that Kwabena Adu-Boahene paid GH¢9,537,500 to ISC Holdings for the cyber defence system, despite the full GH¢49.1 million being earmarked and transferred for its payment,” a report by TV3 stated.
Cromwell further alleged that after the account holding the funds was depleted, Adu-Boahene and his wife instructed their bankers at UMB to close the accounts and transfer the remaining funds to Advantage Solutions, a company they reportedly own.
The case centres on allegations that Adu-Boahene, his wife and their company unlawfully transferred about GH¢49 million, equivalent to roughly $7 million, from the NSB’s accounts into personal accounts.
Earlier, Attorney General and Minister for Justice Dr Dominic Ayine disclosed that Adu-Boahene signed a $7 million contract in January 2020 on behalf of the Government of Ghana and National Security for the purchase of a cyber defence system from an Israeli company.
According to the Attorney General, investigations revealed that days after the contract was signed, Adu-Boahene allegedly transferred GH¢27.1 million from the National Signals Bureau’s account at Fidelity Bank into a private account linked to his company at UMB.
Dr Ayine further alleged that portions of the funds were subsequently transferred into personal accounts belonging to Adu-Boahene and his wife.
The trial is ongoing as prosecutors seek to establish how the funds were utilised and whether the accused persons played a role in the alleged misappropriation of state resources.
