The four accused persons in the National Signals Bureau case, Kwabena Adu-Boahen, his wife Angela Adjei-Boateng, Mildred Donkor, and Advantage Solutions Limited, have pleaded not guilty to all charges levelled against them.
Before their pleas were taken, counsel for the accused, Samuel Atta-Akyea, prayed the court to adjourn the case, arguing that his clients had been ambushed by the state.
According to him, his clients honoured an invitation from the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) on Tuesday, April 29, where they were informed that charges had officially been levelled against them, pending arraignment by the Attorney General.
They were then instructed to reappear at EOCO on Wednesday, April 30, only to be told they were being arraigned without having been officially served with the charges.
He therefore prayed the court to defer proceedings to allow the accused persons to be properly served.
The Attorney General, however, opposed the application, arguing that both the accused persons and their lawyer were aware of the charges against them and that the court ought to proceed with taking their pleas.
The court, presided over by Justice Eugene Nyante Nyadu, directed that the charges be read to the accused persons and their pleas taken.
The first accused person, Kwabena Adu-Boahen, faced seven individual counts. These include three counts of stealing, defrauding by false pretence, wilfully causing financial loss to the state, using public office for profit, and operating public property by false statement.
His wife, Angela Adjei-Boateng, has been charged individually with one count of collaborating with Kwabena Adu-Boahen to use his office for personal gain.
In addition, the couple has been jointly charged with conspiracy to steal.
Furthermore, all four accused Kwabena Adu-Boahen, Angela Adjei-Boateng, Mildred Donkor, and Advantage Solutions Limited, are facing charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit a crime, specifically money laundering.
All accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Meanwhile, the judge is expected to hear in-camera evidence from the Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine, who is seeking the remand of Kwabena Adu-Boahen. The Attorney General alleges that the first accused has attempted to tamper with a key witness in the case.
Lawyer for Kwabena Adu-Boahen, Samuel Atta-Akyea, questioned how his client could tamper with a witness under the watch of state investigative agencies and demanded to know the evidentiary basis for the claim.
The judge has granted all accused persons temporary bail under their existing conditions, pending a determination on Friday based on the in-camera evidence to be presented by the Attorney General.
