The Lands Commission has terminated the appointment of five members of staff who are currently standing trial at the High Court for fraud.

A circular dated April 10, 2024, said the termination followed an investigation by the National Intelligence Bureau on ‘nonpayment and underpayment of stamp duties.’

Four of the staff were in the Land Valuation Division of the Commission in Accra while the other was at the Customer Service Access Unit also in Accra.

They are Gideon Obeng Mensah (Senior Administrative Officer); Frederick Okai (Senior Land Administration Officer); Jason Hassan Degaul (Land Administration Officer); Andrews Tettey Antwi (Assistant Administration Officer); and Issac Bonsu Karikari Jnr (Assistant Land Administration Officer).

The termination of appointments took effect March 19, 2024.

When the Ghana News Agency contacted an official, the Commission stated that more information on the matter would be provided later.

In February of this year, the Commission interdicted 14 staff members for ‘
Stamp Duty fraud.’

Mr. Benjamin Arthur, Acting Executive Secretary of the Commission, made the announcement at the Executive Secretary’s Annual Briefing and launch of the Staff Awards Scheme in Accra.

The Stamp Duty fraud was detected in May 2022 when the Audit Unit of the Commission realized that ‘tax figures paid by some property owners for the registration of their properties failed to reflect the expected tax amount.’

The Commission took internal disciplinary proceedings against the suspects after finding that a considerable sum of money had been lost because of the fraud.

It is unclear whether the five staff members whose appointments have been terminated were among the 14 suspects.

Source: Ghana News Agency