An association of youth in the Ashanti Region has said a publication that appeared in a UK-based news portal citing Otumfuo Osei Tutu II in a money laundering scandal is spurious.
A statement issued Wednesday evening by the Concerned Youth of Asante stated that its President, Nana Dr Agyenim Boateng, is “convinced that the news is cooked to degrade the name of His Royal Majesty of the Asante kingdom.”
The revered Asantehene is reported to have handed £350,000 cash to a banker, Mark Arthur, to be deposited on his behalf at the Ghana International Bank in the UK.
The bank official who handled the transfer said he did that because he is a subject of the King and could not question him over the money or any other issue.
Related: Otumfuo cited in £350,000 money laundering case in UK He has since lost his job, which is a subject of litigation in the European country.
The Bank reported the matter to the UK’s National Crime Agency after the money was “suspiciously” transferred to Jersey, an Island in the country. Read the full statement released by the Ashanti Region-based youth association.
ALLEGED MONEY LAUNDERING SAGA LEVELLED AGAINST THE ASANTE KING BOGUS….CYA
The president of the Concerned Youth of Asante, a pressure group in the Ashanti region ,Nana Dr Agyenim Boateng has issued a statement to rubbish the alleged $350,000 money laundering saga levelled against the Asante monarch, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II as reported by a UK based Telegraph portal as bogus which has been political motivated to tarnish the image of the great Asante Kingdom.
He, however, commended the attitude characterized by the media in the Ashanti region of being mute over the alleged money laundering scandal in the United Kingdom that has mentioned the name of Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
Gyataba indicated that, considering the nature of the story as reported by the UK based online portal, he is much convinced that the news is cooked to degrade the name of His Royal Majesty of the Asante kingdom.
According to him, Manhyia Palace has it own say on the story but as president of CYA, he knows Otumfuo Osei Tutu II respect the rules and regulations of foreign laws and would never violate any foreign laws because he is the occupant of the golden stool.
Though the King of the Asante kingdom is yet to respond to the issue when he returns from his current trip abroad.But Gyataba indicated, as a grandson of the golden stool he has every right to defend Asantehene in this crucial time that some political apparatchiks wants to belittle His(otumfuo) kingdom.
He said, in 2012 this same stomach politicians tarnished the high won reputation of the Asantehene by telling the whole world that Otumfuo influenced the electoral commission of Ghana in the 2012 general elections.
The report which emerged in the UK-based Telegraph online portal claimed a top banker in the country lost his job after receiving a huge amount of cash for savings for the Otumfuo, a practice frowned upon by the UK laws.But Gyataba deduced that Otumfuo has respect for the laws of the UK and would not use his power as the Ghanaian king to flout the rules of the United Kingdom.
Source: Myjoyonline.com