Gossip
The Telegraph cites Otumfuo Osei Tutu II in £350,000 money laundering case
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Otumfuo Osei Tutu II meets the Queen in 2000 CREDIT: FIONA HANSON[/caption] The Telegraph has published a story in which the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, is alleged to have laundered £200,000 and $200,000 in cash. A bank official, Mark Arthur, has lost his job because according to the Ghana International Bank, he “failed to follow anti-money laundering rules and had violated security policies as it was only insured to carry cash by armoured car up to a maximum of £250,000.”
The matter came to light in an ongoing tribunal hearing to ascertain the legality of Mr. Arthur’s dismissal.
Read below the full story as published by The Telegraph’s Chief Business Correspondent, Christopher Williams, on October 10, 2017. To a Ghanaian King, handing someone a holdall stuffed with more than £350,000 to deposit in a bank might seem nothing out of the ordinary. Indeed, when Osei Tutu II, traditional ruler of the Kingdom of Ashanti, summoned Mark Arthur to his multimillion-pound residence in Henley-on-Thames and handed him a bag containing almost £200,000 in sterling as well as $200,000 in US currency with consecutive serial numbers, the bank official felt it inappropriate to ask too many questions. However, the subsequent deposit of the cash at Ghana International Bank triggered a money laundering alert in the City of London and cost Mr Arthur his job. The King, who once worked at Brent council, summoned Mr Arthur, the bank’s second most senior executive, to his home in August last year. Mr Arthur, from New Barnet, Hertfordshire, a dual citizen of the UK and Ghana, drove to his own home with the cash and then took it in an Uber taxi to the bank’s City offices for deposit in the king’s account, he told an employment tribunal. Osei Tutu II, the holder of a diplomatic passport, told him the cash had been withdrawn from banks in Ghana and brought to the UK, he said in his witness statement. He had also instructed Mr Arthur to move $200,000 to an account at Standard bank in Jersey. Mr Arthur, a member of the Ashanti tribe, the largest in Ghana, carried out the transfer within hours, the tribunal heard. He was suspended and then sacked following the incident, after an investigation by outside accountants Grant Thornton. He is claiming wrongful dismissal, unfair dismissal and failure to protect a whistleblower. The bank said he had failed to follow anti-money laundering rules and had violated security policies as it was only insured to carry cash by armoured car up to a maximum of £250,000. Mr Arthur, an executive director of the bank, alleged the deposit and transfer were approved by Ghana International Bank’s chief executive, Joseph Mensah. Mr Mensah told an outside reviewer of Mr Arthur’s dismissal he “didn’t even have the authority to sanction such a huge amount”. Osei Tutu II is estimated to be Africa’s 10th richest monarch, with valuable goldmine and cocoa plantations and remains one of the most influential traditional figures in Ghana. In his witness statement, Mr Arthur said he was not able to follow anti-money laundering rules when he accepted the cash because of the king’s status. https://ameyawdebrah.com/10-bank-accounts-expensive-cars-5-companies-d-black-lists-assets/ He said: “Without a policy to follow and did without wishing to offend a sovereign of my country, I found myself in a very difficult situation and one I had never been in before. “I could not carry out the necessary due diligence by talking to His Majesty so decided it would be best to verify the deposits at the bank and to speak directly to Mr Mensah rather than disrespect His Majesty in a face-to-face meeting.” The day after the bank accepted the cash and made the transfer to Jersey, it reported the transactions to the National Crime Agency as suspicious. News of Mr Arthur’s suspension was subsequently passed to the City watchdogs the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA sent inspectors into the bank who severely criticised its handling of cash, the tribunal heard. Lawyers for Mr Arthur argued that his handling of the deposit was in line with the way the bank previously handled Osei Tutu II’s account and that he was aware that the king could travel on a diplomatic passport. They cited a string of large cash deposits in 2013 and 2014 where the source of the funds was not properly recorded. They included a $100,000 that a review of the king’s account said came from a fundraising event. There were no documents recording the source of that cash, however. Colin Millar, a building society chairman drafted in by Ghana International Bank to adjudicate on Mr Arthur’s appeal against his dismissal, rejected suggestions that the £350,000 holdall was acceptable given the king’s history with the bank. He told the tribunal the deposit and swift transfer offshore was a “classic” warning sign of money laundering. Mr Millar told the hearing: “If you want to hide the sources of funds that are from a disreputable source then you move them around until it reaches the point where the authorities can’t trace them back to their original source. That’s a way of hiding the proceeds of crime.”]]>
Gossip
Gospel singer KODA passes on, after reportedly battling a kidney disease
Gospel singer, Kofi Owusu Dua Anto popularly known as KODA is dead.
He died on Sunday after reportedly battling a kidney disease.
Tributes, especially from gospel musicians started flying on social media on Sunday when they heard about KODA’s passing.
Some musicians expressed shock when they heard about the death of the gospel stalwart.
Among those who expressed their shock were, Empress Gifty, who posted on Facebook: “I hope it’s not true, KODA,” with crying emojis.
Speaking to Graphic Showbiz on Sunday afternoon, Gospel musician Nii Okai, a very close friend of KODA said, “I wish I could tell you another thing but that’s the truth. KODA is dead”.
He said it was quite shocking to him considering that KODA was doing very fine after going through treatment.
KODA, celebrated for his uplifting melodies and soulful compositions, was not just a singer but a producer who left an indelible mark on the Ghanaian music scene.
Gossip
WATCH: Irene Logan sings ‘At Last’ as she dances with her husband at their wedding reception
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Gossip
Lagos police arrest gay gang of criminals, who raped their male victims
The police in Lagos have recorded a breakthrough by arresting eight members of a vicious gang of criminals that specialize in subjecting their victims to several hours of anal sex after dispossessing them of their properties and cash.
The arrest, said to be one of the biggest successes of detectives recently, under the watchful eyes of Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade so far, was made in the highbrow areas of Lekki, Ajah and Ikoyi areas of the state and efforts are in top gear to round up fleeing members of the dreaded gang made up of young men between the ages of 23 and 40.
Giving details of the operational strategies of the gang, police sources said the young men usually perpetrate their evil acts by renting living apartments in the highbrow areas of the city after which they embark on search for their victims.
It was learned that they normally place notices in strategic areas of the city, advertising job vacancies and acting as estate agents.
Sources said desperate job and accommodation seekers who respond to their adverts would be taken to their apartments usually situated in one of the booming estates where they are subjected to all kinds of torture with a view to forcing them release their account details after which they would be forced into several hours of anal sex by members of the gang.
According to sources, their operational method is to roam around with exotic cars including high flying SUV’s. They place fake advertisements in strategic areas of Lekki, Ajah, Banana Island and even Ikoyi after which they also scout around, looking for fine and healthy-looking men.
As soon as they succeed in getting a victim, they drive the person to their apartment where they torture him for hours. While torturing their victim, they would extract all information about him including his financial status.
“As soon as they are in possession of those personal facts, they swing into action by proceeding to his house or banks to empty his money and other valuables. The second round of their operation is to subject their victim to hours of anal sex which they take turns to have their fill. They usually record their exploits on video and later relax to view it while enjoying their loot.”
It was gathered that their criminal exploits were blown open after they succeeded in cornering and maltreating a relation of a mobile police officer. The enraged officer was said to have gone to one of the police stations at Lekki to lodge the report.
Based on this development, the Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade gave marching orders to his special squad to round up the criminals without delay.
The Special Squad, it was learned, succeeded in penetrating the gang and rounded up seven of their members including their oldest member said to be a lawyer.
Crime Guard learned that during interrogations, members of the gang who were looking unruffled stated boldly that their victims were healthy looking young and old men that will satisfy their sexual urge through the anus.
“They reportedly shocked detectives when they confessed that they had been operating for over three years and that they choose highbrow areas where they could easily track well nourished and endowed men.
Police sources said: “They were boasting to us about how many healthy looking men they have abused through the anus. They said they reject men that are not looking health, stating emphatically that they have no business with women. After their arrest, we confined them in separate cells so that they would not descend on our male suspects inside the cell.
“However, few days later, one of them raised alarm that the oldest member of the gang who claimed to be a lawyer was having same affair with a member of the gang. When we accosted him, he said the relationship had been going on since they have been operating as a gang.
“Our greatest problem now is that some members of the devilish gang have escaped and we strongly suspect that they must be carrying on with their devilish criminal acts wherever they are.
“We are spreading our dragnets and we are sure that very soon, we will round all of them up. I must state that if not for the swiftness with which our Commissioner directed the operation, many men in Lagos state would have been endangered species by now.”
Gossip
Joyce Dzidzor to release Tatata featuring Freddy Meiway
Former Aids Ambassador and actress Joyce Dzidzor is gearing up for the release of her latest single Tatata featuring Ivorian Legendary musician Freddy Meiway.
Scheduled for release on April 10 the song recorded by King Dee, mixed by Donguy and mastered by Franz talks about broken heart and how to come out of it. Speaking in an interview with Joyce she said Freddy will not just jump on any song if he is not okay with it “How many musicians have been able to feature him on a song. It was not easy getting him on the song but finally we did and I am so grateful for that.
Asked why she went in for Meiway she said she has so much respect for him and even got a tattoo of him at her back said that her latest tattoo at her back.
“Meiway songs helped me her come out from depression. His music was a therapy for me when I was going through severe depression in 2019 in Hamburg and I tattoo him at my back to celebrate his achievements as an artiste for the past 35 years” she said Asked about her next project and collaboration with other Ghanaian musicians Joyce said that will only depend if this project goes well.
“ I have a lot of plans for my music career but that will depend on how my latest single goes. If it goes well and accepted by Ghanaians it will give me the energy to continue my music career and feature other musicians” she said. Joyce has been doing music for more 15 years now and has backed musicians like Highlife musician Gyedu- Blay Ambolley and singer Sherifa Gunu.
She was also a member of Dela Hayes Women of Colour band. She pleaded with musicians in Ghana to acknowledge backup singers for their contributions they play. “It is only few musicians who come out to acknowledge who backed them in a studio but I have backed a lot of musicians in the past and they know it. It is just right that they acknowledge our contribution we play so that we can do fill happy for a good work done. When that is done, other musicians who probably liked what we did on other songs can employ us on their projects. That has been my worry for sometime and I wish it could be addressed” she said
Gossip
Henry Fitz and 2 others being sued over Serwaa Amihere video
Serwaa Amihere has filed a suit at the Dansoman circuit court against Henry Amponsah popularly known as Henry Fitz, Edem Saviour Ketti and Candylove Kwaykewaa Ababio. (more…)
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