Ghana’s embassy in Washington, D.C., will temporarily close starting today as authorities investigate allegations of corruption involving a member of the IT staff.
The country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzetor Ablakwa, announced on Monday that the staff involved, Fred Kwarteng, had been dismissed after an audit uncovered that he had operated visa and passport services off the embassy’s website.
“Mr. Kwarteng was a local staff recruited on August 11, 2017, to work in the embassy’s IT department. According to findings and his own admission, he created an unauthorized link on the embassy’s website which diverted visa and passport applicants to his company, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC) where he charged extra for multiple services on the blind side of the ministry and kept the entire proceeds in his private account,” the minister said.
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“His illegal extra charges which were not approved by the ministry and parliament as required under the Fees and Charges Act ranges from US$29.75 to US$60 per applicant. The Investigations reveal that he and his collaborators operated this illegal scheme for at least 5 years. This conduct has been reported to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution and retrieval of funds obtained through fraudulent schemes.”
This development would also affect activities at the Washington office as staff posted to the Washington embassy have been recalled home with immediate effect.
“The Auditor-General has been invited to conduct forensic examination of all transactions and to determine the total cost of this elaborate fraudulent scheme,” the minister said further.
The embassy’s IT department has also been dissolved. It is not yet clear if other staff members have been implicated in the incident.