President Nana Akufo-Addo has denied representing, an infamous gold smuggler and self-styled financial architect, Alistair Mathias as his lawyer.
Mr Mathias named President Akufo-Addo, in Aljazeera’s four-part investigative documentary series, as a friend who once served as his lawyer.
However, a legal counsel to the President says the public should disregard the claims.
In a tweet, Mr Kow Essuman said “the President has not been in private practice since 2000, neither has the President nor his law firm, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co, acted as lawyer for this Alistair Mathias or Guldrest. The President does not know this Mathias or Guldrest. Ignore the spurious allegations.”
The President has not been in private practice since 2000, neither has the President nor his law firm, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co, acted as lawyer for this Alistair Mathias or Guldrest. The President does not know this Mathias or Guldrest. Ignore the spurious allegations.
— Kow Essuman (@kaessuman) April 16, 2023
The investigative piece, unearthed gold-smuggling and money-laundering syndicates in Zimbabwe.
In the fourth series of the investigative work, Mr Mathias, who was once the kingpin of gold smugglers in Ghana, said he enjoyed the largesse of the country’s political elite during his smuggling days.
He explained to the undercover reporters that his gold-smuggling trade was successful in Ghana thanks to the corrupt politicians and government elements he sorted out.
Mathias, who was once the biggest smuggler in Ghana, revealed his modus operandi to the undercover journalists.
“In Ghana, I take tenders: road construction, procurement — supplying different things — oil, this, that”, he revealed.
“There, all the politicians get taken care of indirectly because it allows me to do all my other stuff freely”, he noted.
For example, he said with the government of Ghana, “I get the contract, I subcontract it to you, $100 million contract. Ghana government pays me $100 million. I give it to you, and you say it’s $80 million.”
“In this scenario, the outstanding $20 million out of the inflated $100 million is shared per an arrangement reached between Alistair and the said politician,” he demonstrated.
“I’ll have an arrangement with them and they get 15… I’ll probably get 5 million. I keep all of it in Dubai. Whenever they want it, they just tell me and I send it.”
“Ghana’s President is a good friend of mine; in fact, he was my lawyer,” he said.
Source: Classfmonline.com