The State is amending charges against Ernest Thompson, the former Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), and four others who are suspected of wilfully causing the State financial harm in conjunction with Operating Business Suite (OBS Contract).
Thompson and his four accomplices are suspected of taking more than $66 million from an OBS deal that was meant to supply the nation with a cutting-edge pension management scheme.
The cases have been brought against them both, and they have all pled not guilty.
On March 17, this year, the Supreme Court found that the State’s proceedings against Mr. Ernest Thompson and four others were improper and did not satisfy constitutional standards.
The State secured the Supreme Court judgment on March 24, this year, according to Mrs Yvonne Attokorah Obuobisah, the Director for Public Prosecution (DPP).
“We have looked into it and we are now amending the charges on causing financial damage to the State,” the DPP notes. We will bring amended charges if we are granted two weeks.”
Thompson’s lawyer, Mr Samuel Cudjoe, said he had only received the Supreme Court decision and prayed that they be allowed enough time to review the latest charges.
The trial has been rescheduled for April 22.
John Hagan Mensah, a former SSNIT Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure Manager and later Operational Business Business Suite (OBS) Project Manager; Juliet Hassana Kramer, Chief Executive Officer of Perfect Business System (PBS) and Silverlake Organized Service Limited; Caleb Kwaku Afaglo, former SSNIT General Manager of Management Information Systems (MIS); and Peter Ha, a former SSNIT Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure Manager and later Operational Business Suite (OBS)
The five were formerly charged with 29 charges of fraud, wilfully causing financial harm to the administration, and violating the Public Procurement Act, among other things.
Afaglo is even accused of defrauding under false pretenses, possessing forged papers, and manipulating forged documents.
The court also directed them to be placed on self-recognisance bond.
According to the facts, SSNIT established an Information Communication Technology (ICT) Strategic Plan in June 2010 to address current developments in its organizational processes and to adhere to emerging ICT business trends.
According to the indictment, the scheme called for the introduction and deployment of innovative technical tools such as the Operational Business Suite (OBS) to provide SSNIT with a turnkey pension management framework.
SSNIT advertised in the media for International Competitive Bidding for the project’s production and execution, according to the statement.
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Despite the fact that an entity known as Perfect Business Systems Limited (PBS) did not partake in the November 2012 bidding, the contract was given jointly to Silverlake, a Malaysian IT solutions provider, and PBS purportedly as a partnership at a contract amount of $34,011,914, with a 14% contingency and 17.5 percent VAT, according to the indictment.
According to the indictment, the project’s aim was to simplify all of SSNIT’s key procedures in the implementation and merge all internal and external structures.
The deal, which included SSNIT’s headquarters and branch offices, totaling 55 cities, was scheduled to be concluded in 18 months, according to the firm.
“The project involved hardware and software creation, data transfer and relocation, device integration of all parts, and maintenance support,” says the firm.
According to the Attorney General, Thompson, Juliet, and Afaglo induced reimbursement by SSNIT to PBS for products that were still protected by the contract number, thus “ballooning” the contract from $34,011,914 to $66,783,148 by what were referred to as “Change Orders” and “Variations.”
The so-called Variation or Changing of Order was carried out at the behest of Ernest Thompson, Mensah, Juliet, and Afaglo, according to the indictment.
Thompson, she said, approved certain payments that exceeded his Director-General’s level and were in violation of the Public Procurement Act.
According to the Indictment, on January 15, 2016, SSNIT entered into a Service Level Agreement (SLA) for repair and warranty with the so-called consortium (PBS/Silverlake), embodied by Juliet, in the sum of $2,570,967 per year for three years.
Despite the fact that the servicing and repair deal was signed in 2016, the defense claims the reimbursement began in September 2014, although no operation had been made.
The payments were rendered in violation of the provisions of the OBS Contract, as well as the recommendation of the Corporate Law Manager, culminating in an unearned two-year payout of $5,141,905.66 by SSNIT to the ‘Consortium’ through Mensah.
According to the prosecutor, Hayibor was present when Thompson signed the SLA.
Investigations revealed that the OBS scheme did not work as anticipated, but Ernest Thompson authorized the multiple transfers, resulting in the loss of these funds, according to the indictment.
Further inquiries found that Juliet allegedly represented a non-existent PBS corporation, and that she lacked the authority to serve Silverlake, according to the indictment.
The prosecutor claims that when Afaglo applied for a job at SSNIT, he submitted and depended on credentials and professional qualifications that he did not have.
“On October 1, 2015, he was hired as the General Manager of MIS at SSNIT based on certain forged certificates.”
Afaglo’s credentials, which he reported to have received from Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Cincinnati, were not authentic, according to the prosecutor.
SOURCE: ATLFMONLINE
