Topmost of events to herald persecutions and prosecutions in 2020 is the evidence of Seth Asiedu Obugyei in the matter concerning allegations of misappropriation of funds against former Chief Executive of MASLOC Sedina Tamakloe Attionu.
This is slated to happen in the early days of January 2020 in the courtroom of Justice Afia Serwaa Asare Botwe.
Grapevine has already hinted that his written statement is either silent or contradicts the mainstay of one of the major claims against Mrs. Tamakloe Attionu.
If I have by now not whet your appetite, then perhaps I am not telling the story well but wait and let me explain.
I am sure you have already read a story about a prosecution witness claiming some GH₵500,000 cash was handed to Mrs. Tamakloe Attionu at some filling station somewhere in the middle of the night.
According to the witness in question, the money was a loan from MASLOC that was being returned because the Board of the loanee had decided its terms were unfavourable.
To break it down, the witness in question is Samuel Quansah, an Accra based Accountant,the second prosecution witness in the case against Mrs. Tamakloe Attionu is was while the loanee is the Ejura based defunct Obaatanpa Microfinance.
Mr. Quansah was a board member of the Microfinance Company who claims to have been responsible for all Accra correspondence of the company including sending financial proposals to organizations interested in investing in MASLOC.
Mr. Quansah on 25 November 2019 testified that he witnessed Mr. Asiedu Obugyei carry a bag containing GH₵500,000 from a car he (Quansah) was driving into the backseat of another one driven by someone he claims was the former MASLOC Boss.
Whiles he does not remember the date of this transaction, he sounded sure about where it happened and to whom the alleged money was delivered.
In his narration, the former Obaatanpa Board alleged money was originally a loan procured from MASLOC by Obaatanpa to cater for the demands of its growing customer base.
Mr. Quansah in his evidence in chief, claimed MASLOC advanced the loan in response to an application from the Microfinance Company for a GH₵1million loan.
He claimed he picked up a cheque of GH₵500,000 from MASLOC somewhere in 2014 on the instructions of the Board Chair.
The Board Chair of Obaatanpa at the time was Mr. Asiedu Obugyei, my man of the moment.
Seth Asiedu Obugyei, by the narration of Mr. Quansah was the only one connected to the Microfinance company who had contact with and met the former MASLOC Boss.
According to Mr. Quansah, it was alleged Mr. Asiedu Obugyei who was contacted when the cheque was ready, was the one who instructed Mr. Quansah to do the pickup.
The then Obaatanpa Board Chair was also allegedly told management of the Microfinance company that the interest rate on the loan was 48 percent.
Seth Asiedu Obugyei is allegedly the one who told management of the company Mrs. Tamakloe Attionu wanted the loan to be returned in cash and not cheque with the reason that MASLOC had suffered the misfortune of such cheques bouncing.
The second prosecution witness also mentioned Mr. Asiedu Obugyei as the one who supervised the alleged withdrawal of the GH₵500,000, its conveyance to Accra and onward delivery to Mrs. Sedina Tamakloe Attionu under the cover of darkness.
During his cross-examination, Mr. Quansah admitted to never meeting or interacting with Mrs. TamakloeAttionu.
Mr. Quansah told lawyer Agbesi Dzakpasu that at some point during the alleged transaction the recipient switched on his car’s inside light and that is how he managed to identify Mrs. Tamakloe Attionu as the occupant in the other car using his rear-view mirror.
The question lingering at this time was how he was able to positively identify Mrs. Tamakloe Attionu because throughout his evidence he never mentioned any encounter with the former MASLOC Boss.
When the question was posed to him by lawyer Agbesi Dzakpasu who is Mrs. Tamakloe Attionu, Mr. Quansah said he recognized the former MASLOC Boss from watching her on a TV program.
He could not however recall when this TV program was broadcasted and what it was about.
Having listened to Mr. Quansah, one cannot help but look forward to the evidence of Mr. Seth Asiedu Obugyei, the former Board Chair of the defunct Obaatanpa Microfinance.
From his own narration, everything the former Obaatanpa Microfinance Board member told the court about Mrs. Tamakloe Attionu was hearsay except for his acclaimed rear-view mirror identification based on what he had saw on a TV program he does not recall.
There are however hints about the written statement of Seth Asiedu Obugyei with lawyer Agbesi Dzakpasu claiming the 48 percent per annum interest rate claim is not contained in the written statement of the former Obaatanpa Board Chair.
This is significant because the interest rate according to Mr. Quansah’s evidence is the main reason the money was allegedly returned.
In the meantime, I can look forward to his appearance with a lot of anticipation.
Author: Sena Nombo/Radiogoldlive.com
