High Court convicts six in GES payroll fraud case, over GHc106k recovered

The High Court in Tamale has convicted six individuals for their involvement in a payroll corruption scheme that exploited the Ghana Education Service (GES) through the use of ghost names and fraudulent salary payments.

The convictions were secured under the Office of the Special Prosecutor’s (OSP) plea bargaining framework, which facilitated full restitution and reparation to the State.

The convicted individuals, comprising school administrators, payroll officers, and accountants, were found to have illegally validated and reactivated the salaries of a teacher who had long vacated his post.

The convicted individuals are:

• Tahidu Yakubu, a former teacher at Balogu M/A Junior High School (Balogu JHS) in Yendi.
• Abdulai Abubakar Sadic, the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Database (IPPD) Coordinator for the Yendi Municipality.
• Sammy Suuk, the Schools Improvement Support Officer (SISO) for the Yendi North Circuit.
  Mohammed Yusif Jay, former Headmaster of Balogu JHS.
• Stafford Korletey Azudey-Barres, an Assistant Chief Account Technician at the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department in Accra.
• Osman Issahaku, the current Headmaster of Balogu JHS, is responsible for validating teacher salaries at the school.

Their actions, according to the OSP, led to the wrongful disbursement of over GHc86,000, all of which have now been recovered. In total, the OSP has retrieved GHc106,319.64 in connection with the case.

The OSP confirmed that this case is part of a broader, ongoing investigation into payroll-related corruption, and several additional suspects are currently being pursued.

In a statement, the Office indicated that it currently has six other criminal trials underway in Accra, Tamale, and Kumasi as part of its intensified efforts to hold public officers accountable and safeguard public funds.