Payroll Fraud: Five Accused Persons Granted Bail
The High Court in Tamale has granted bail to five out of the six accused persons in an alleged payroll fraud in the education service, a statement by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has confirmed.
As part of the bail conditions, the accused persons have been ordered to surrender their passports. Those without passports must submit their Ghana Cards.
Additionally, each accused person is required to provide two sureties to be justified, one of whom must be a senior public servant.
The six have been slapped with 17 counts of corruption, alleged to have caused financial loss to the state. They have pleaded not guilty to all.
The case has been adjourned to April 1, 2025.
Case
The accused persons have been identified as Yakubu Tahidu, a former teacher of Balogu M/A JHS; Abdulai Abukari Sadic, the Yendi Municipal IPPD Coordinator; and Sammy Suuk, a Schools Improvement Support Officer.
Also included are Mohammed Yusif Jay, the former headteacher of Balogu M/A JHS; Stafford Korletey Azudey-Barres, an Assistant Chief Accounts Technician at the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department; and Osman Issahaku, the current headteacher of Balogu M/A JHS.
According to a statement issued by the OSP last month, Yakubu Tahidu, after vacating his teaching duty to join the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), continued to receive salaries.
The Office further alleges that while Abdulai Abukari Sadic, and Sammy Suuk, are accused of facilitating salary validations for the first accused, Mohammed Yusif Jay, the former headteacher of Balogu M/A JHS, and Osman Issahaku, the current headteacher, allegedly validated the salaries.
Additionally, it faults Stafford Korletey Azudey-Barres, an Assistant Chief Accounts Technician at the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department, for allegedly aiding the processing of fraudulent payments.
The case stems from a referral by National Security, which alleges that the first accused person- Yakubu Tahidu, despite no longer being a teacher, continued to receive salaries while employed by another government agency. The remaining persons are accused of either knowingly facilitating or failing to prevent the fraudulent payments.
