Opuni sues EOCO again for freezing his account

Former COCOBOD Chief Executive, Dr Stephen Opuni, has sued the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) again demanding it unfreezes his bank accounts.

In the writ dated April 27, 2018, Dr Opuni said the conduct of EOCO and its decision to continue freezing his assets is inhuman and wrongful.

An Accra High Court two weeks ago ordered the unfreezing of Dr Opuni’s accounts.

The former Chief Executive of COCOBOD during the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration is standing trial for causing financial loss to the state.

The court gave the order to unfreeze his accounts after hearing the arguments from lawyers of Opuni.

His accounts were frozen for over a year as the state pursues a litany of charges against him.

It is the state’s case that within three years, Dr Opuni caused 217 million cedis loss to the taxpayer through dubious contracts to supply fertilisers from Germany.

But it turned out, that the sub-standard fertilisers were prepared and bagged in Ghana.

Dr Opuni endured a rocky tenure at COCOBOD with workers agitating for his sack.
In Dr Opuni’s latest suit, he states that none of the funds in his two bank accounts, apart from some 25,000 cedis the prosecution has mentioned in the current trial, is the subject of any investigation.

Dr Opuni says the continuous freezing of his accounts has caused and continues to cause extreme hardships to him and his family.

He says he has not been able to access funds from his accounts and have had to resort to contracting loans to meet his basic daily needs.
He wants the court to set aside the order on April 24, 2018, as being not only an error of law but also an abuse of the court process.
But he became the first CEO of a state institution to be fired following the swearing in of the Akufo-Addo government in January 2017.




Dr Opuni who was on a 75,000 cedi salary faces 26 more charges including money laundering and bribery.

He has denied all charges.

In Dr Opuni’s latest suit, he states that none of the funds in his two bank accounts, apart from some 25,000 cedis the prosecution has mentioned in the current trial, is the subject of any investigation.
Dr Opuni says the continuous freezing of his accounts has caused and continues to cause extreme hardships to him and his family.

He says he has not been able to access funds from his accounts and have had to resort to contracting loans to meet his basic daily needs.
He wants the court to set aside the order on April 24, 2018, as being not only an error of law but also an abuse of the court process.

Source: Myjoyonline.com