HFC man grabbed for lotto deal

Friday, November 25, 2010 (Page 3 Lead)

AN employee of the HFC Bank, Joseph Atta Wood, was yesterday put before the Accra Fast Track High Court for allegedly stealing GH¢327,673.11 belonging to his employers.
The accused person was said to have committed the offence between January, 2006 and May, 2010 and allegedly used the stolen money to acquire a storey building on two plots of land at Ashalley Botwe, a suburb of Accra, a Mercedes Benz saloon car, a Hyundai truck and also set up a sachet water distribution company .
Wood allegedly took advantage of his position as officer in charge of an arrangement made between the Department of National Lotteries (DNL) and the bank and, in the process, forged winning tickets to pay himself.
The court, presided over by Mr Justice Mustapha Habib Logo, granted the accused bail in the sum of GH¢400,000 with three sureties, one of which is to be justified after he had pleaded not guilty to one count of stealing.
He was also ordered not to dispose of the assets he had allegedly acquired through his dubious acts.
The court also directed that the sureties must be residents of Accra or Tema.
Prosecuting, a Principal State Attorney, Mrs Evelyn Keelson, told the court that Wood was employed by the bank as an officer in charge of the arrangement made between DNL and HFC over the payment of winning coupons.
The arrangement was made by the two bodies in January, 2006.
Wood’s duty was to receive winning tickets from customers and pay them discounted face value of the amount after which DNL would refund the moneys paid to its clients by the bank.
By the agreement, customers who had won lotto draws and needed money immediately could claim the money at HFC Desk at the DNL at a discounted face value.
The winning tickets would then be validated by Wood before making payment. The winning tickets are sent to DNL later by HFC Bank for a refund of the face value of the tickets.
According to the prosecution, in January, 2010, HFC Bank wrote to DNL claiming to be reimbursed an outstanding balance of winning tickets totalling GH¢327,673.11, which the bank claimed it had paid to DNL’s customers but the DNL informed the bank that it was not indebted to it.
Following the bank’s demand and the DNL’s denial of owing it, the accused person was directed by the bank to submit a breakdown of the winning tickets making out the outstanding balance of GH¢327,673.11 on the DNL discounting account.
During checks by the bank and the DNL, it emerged that there were no genuine tickets to support the supposed payments of GH¢327,673.11 and that the accused person had dishonestly appropriated the amount by forging winning tickets.
Counsel for the accused person, Mr Egbert Faibille, in applying for bail, said the charges were mere allegations.
According to him, there was no proof that the accused person had misappropriated the said amount.
The case was adjourned to December 8, 2010