Man 37, arrested over payslips deal

February 4, 2008 (Page 39)


LUCK ran out for a 37-year-old barber who attempted to steal payslips of public servants to further his alleged dubious deals with Hire Purchase Companies.
Sylvester Appiah was caught in possession of the payslips at the premises of the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD) last Wednesday.
Appiah, who is suspected to be in league with some hire purchase companies, is said to have earlier approached a worker at the CAGD to assist him to lay hands on the payslips.
The worker reported the matter to her superiors who urged her to feign interest and hand over some payslips to Appiah.
After collecting the payslips, Appiah gave GH ¢100 to the worker but he was arrested shortly after handing over the money.
A search on him revealed that he was in possession of more than 50 payslips of public servants.
Following the arrest of Appiah, the CAGD would be holding an emergency meeting with hire purchase companies on Monday, February 4, 2008 to re-emphasise the rules under which hire purchase companies could deal with the CAGD.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, after his arrest, the Head of Payroll of the CAGD, Mr Seidu Kotomah, said his outfit had received complaints from more than 127 public servants who claimed their salaries were being deducted for items they had not purchased.
He said seven complaints were received from public servants in August 2007, 26 in September 2007, 36 in October 2007, 30 in November 2007, while 19 and 16 complaints were received in December 2007 and January 2008 respectively.
According to Mr Kotomah, two public servants had even dragged the CAGD to court over the same issue, adding that “the issue is becoming a big problem”.
He said some unscrupulous elements laid hands on payslips, manoeuvred to meet other conditions with assistance from hire purchase companies and eventually succeeded in getting the salaries of affected public servants deducted for items they (public servants) had not purchased.
Mr Kotomah, therefore, appealed to public servants to “jealously guard” their payslips so that they would not fall in the wrong hands.
He said most public servants showed little or no interest in their payslips and said until they did so, the menace would prevail.
“People should have interest in their payslips and question any abnormality in order to nip this problem in the bud once and for all,” Mr Kotomah added, and accordingly urged Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to treat payslips with caution.