State urges High Court to order Adu-Boahene, wife to open defence in GH¢49.1m case
The State has asked the High Court in Accra to dismiss a submission of no case filed by the former Director-General of the National Signals Bureau (NSB), Kwabena Adu-Boahene, and to call on him, his wife and their company to open their defence over the alleged diversion of GH¢49.1 million in public funds.
In a 25-page submission filed on Friday, October 9, the Deputy Attorney-General, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, argued that the prosecution had led sufficient evidence on every essential ingredient of the offences charged, and that this evidence was not shaken in cross-examination.
“They all point decisively to guilt,” the submission said of the evidence. “Accordingly, we pray that the Accused Persons’ submission of no case be dismissed.”
Mr Adu-Boahene is standing trial with his wife, Angela Adjei Boateng, and Advantage Solutions Limited on charges including stealing, conspiracy to steal, wilfully causing financial loss to the State, using public office for profit, obtaining public property by false statements and money laundering. They have pleaded not guilty and are on bail.
According to the filing, three cheques with a combined face value of GH¢49.1 million were drawn between February and March 2020 on a Fidelity Bank account named “The Director BNC”, belonging to the Bureau of National Communications (BNC), the state agency Mr Adu-Boahene then headed and which later became the NSB.
The cheques, for GH¢27.1 million, GH¢1 million and GH¢21 million, named “BNC – Operations” as payee. The prosecution says they were instead paid into a Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) account named “BNC Communications Limited – Operations”, held by a private company, BNC Communications Bureau Limited.
The State says company records show Mr Adu-Boahene and his wife are directors of that company, that Advantage Solutions is its sole shareholder, and that Ms Adjei Boateng is the beneficial owner of Advantage Solutions. It adds that the UMB account was opened on February 5, 2020, the same day the first cheque was drawn.
The prosecution further alleges that Mr Adu-Boahene presented a sale contract and an invoice to UMB to justify transferring GH¢9,537,500 for the purchase of a cyber defence system, and that both documents were not genuine. It says the NSB’s finance director testified that the agency had no such contract and never received such a system.
By August 3, 2020, the filing says, only GH¢683,609.65 remained in the account, with the money allegedly spent on the couple, their relatives and associates.
The State also asked the court to exclude, or give no weight to, a letter tendered by the defence to suggest the cyber defence system was delivered. The prosecution says the letter is on the letterhead of ISC Group Limited rather than ISC Holdings Limited, the supplier named in the case, carries no named signatory, and bears a seal with spelling errors.
The defence, led by Samuel Atta Akyea, filed its no-case submission after the prosecution closed its case, contending that the evidence does not establish a case sufficient to require the accused to open their defence. The defence has pointed to evidence that the cheques were also signed by the National Security Coordinator to challenge any suggestion that Mr Adu-Boahene had sole control of the funds. Mr Adu-Boahene’s position, as described by the Deputy Attorney-General, is that the money was used to buy a cyber defence system for the agency, not for himself, his family or friends.
The prosecution closed its case on September 8 after calling four witnesses. The court, presided over by Justice Francis Apangabuno Achibonga, gave the defence until September 25 to file its submission. The defence may file a reply to the State’s response.
The case has been adjourned to November 5, 2026, when the court is expected to rule on whether the accused must open their defence
