15 Years Jail Term …For Ex MSALOC Boss & Chief Operator Officer

Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, former Chief Executive of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) and Daniel Axim, the organisation’s former Chief Operating Officer were yesterday sentenced to 10 and 5 years of imprisonment with hard labor respectively.

The two accused allegedly stole GHC3,198,280 in total while at MASLOC and willfully caused financial loss worth GHC1,973,780 to the state.

In the pursuit of justice, the Accra High Court convicted the two on 78 counts, including causing financial loss to the state, theft, conspiracy, money laundering, and damaging public property, in violation of public procurement laws(the Public Procurement Act)

The trial began in 2019 and continued until February 24, 2023, when the court approved the prosecution’s request to proceed with the trial in Attionu’s absence. She had been allowed to go to the United States for medical treatment in 2021, but she did not return.

SedinaTamakloe Attionu, identified as the primary defendant, and Daniel Axim, a former operations manager at MASLOC, were confronting court charges related to allegations of theft and inflicting a financial loss on the state, amounting to GHC93 million among other offenses.

While leading MASLOC, Ms. Tamakloe Attionu and her associate were accused of making unauthorized commitments, burdening the government with financial obligations amounting to GHC61,735,832.50.

Additionally, they face charges related to a loss of GHC22,158,118.85 to public property, improper payments totaling GHC273,743.66, and money laundering amounting to GHC3,704,380, all allegedly occurring during their tenure at MASLOC.

GOOD NEWS

Meanwhile, the Deputy Attorney General Alfred Tuah-Yeboah has described the court’s decision as “good news” and “ refreshing is that she will be brought down to face the sentence, no problem at all.”

Tuah-Yeboah continued: “We have started the process but with this judgment, it’s going to speed up the process. You know in Ghana we have various laws. You can choose to stay away but so far as we have laws for which you can extract from other countries to Ghana, in case there is a judgment against you like this one, be rest assured that she will be brought down to face judgment,”