The State has filed several indictments against former Deputy Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Gifty Oware-Mensah, including charges of fraud, money laundering, and false pretences, alleging that she misused funds and orchestrated deceptive financial transactions.
She has been slapped with five counts of charges, including money laundering, conspiracy, breach of fiduciary duty, forgery, and willfully causing of financial loss to the state.
According to the charges, Gifty Oware, who oversaw the NSA’s Finance and Procurement departments, allegedly made false representations to persons or entities to induce them to deliver funds or property. The State claims she misled stakeholders about the intended use or the destination of monies received.
READ ALSO:
Background & Context
The prosecution contends that over a period, between February 2022 and March 2024, Gifty Oware collected or received over 30 million Ghana Cedis from investors, donors, or institutions under particular assurances, only to divert parts of those funds for unauthorized purposes.
By using a company called Blocks of Life Consult, she created 9,934 fake names within the National Service Scheme’s database. She then allegedly used these fictitious records to secure a GH¢31.5 million loan from the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), pretending her company had supplied goods to those individuals.
Investigators, however, say no supplies were ever made, and over GH¢22.9 million of the funds were later transferred to another company linked to her. With accrued interest, the scheme is believed to have caused a GH¢38.4 million loss to the state.
The charges suggest a systemic pattern rather than a one-off misstep – multiple transactions, cross-transfers, possibly involving various bank accounts and intermediaries.
The former director has been arraigned before the High Court in Accra.