Reginald Aduakwa, an employee of Standard Chartered Bank and former personal banker of Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni, has explained how Seidu Agongo deposited GH¢25,000.00 into the account of the former Chief Executive of COCOBOD.
Mr Aduakwa, who had previously worked with Ecobank, said Dr Opuni requested Mr Agongo, CEO of Agricult Ghana Limited, to deposit the money on his behalf.
Being Dr Opuni’s personal banker, he said he was asked by the former to receive the money and make the deposit, but could not meet Mr Agongo on time hence the latter opted to deposit it by himself, on behalf of the former COCOBOD boss.
Mr Aduakwah is Dr Opuni’s 9th defence witness (DW9) and was led in evidence by Samuel Codjoe, counsel for Dr Opuni.
The DW9 told the Accra High Court, presided over by Justice Aboakye Tandoh, that as Dr Opuni’s personal banker, he was depositing between GH¢10,000 to GH25,000 into his client’s account.
He also told the court that he has neither met Mr Agongo nor staff of Agricult Ghana Limited before, and that, Mr Agongo’s name was mentioned to him once by Dr Opuni, regarding his bank transactions.
The prosecution, represented by Stella Ohene Appiah, rebutted that the testimony of DW9 could not be true, because the statement of Dr. Opuni’s bank account shows there have been values higher than GH¢25,000.00.
The witness responded that it has been years since he handled the account, therefore, cannot remember everything vividly.
The following is the cross examination;
Q. What is your name?
A. My name is Reginald Aduakwa.
Q. Where do you work?
A. I currently work with Standard Chartered Bank.
Q. And where do you live?
A. I live at ARS Oboji, Accra.
Q. What is your profession?
A. I’m a banker by profession.
Q. Do you have any educational qualification?
A. Yes I do, Bachelor degree from the University of Ghana in Psychology and Political Science, and Masters in Science in Energy Economics from Stirling University in Scotland.
Q. When did you finish your first degree?
A. I completed my first degree in 2005.
Q. And your Masters?
A. In 2013.
Q. You stated that you are presently with Standard Chartered Bank. Where were you working previously if any?
A. I used to work with Ecobank Ghana Limited up till 2020 January.
Q. When did you start working with Ecobank?
A. I started working with Ecobank in 2007.
Q. Before then, after school, did you work anywhere else?
A. No.
Q. What was your initial position at Ecobank?
A. My initial position was a cards and settlement officer.
Q. What did that job entail?
A. It entails managing visa cards and completing settlement for transactions done by our clients both online and at ATMs.
Q. Was that the only position you held at Ecobank until you left in 2020?
A. No. I have held various positions in the bank.
Q. Kindly tell us the positions you held with the bank?
A. The positions include product manager, relationship manager, head of cash sales, head of cash management.
Q. Kindly tell this court the duties of a relationship manager?
A. The duties of a relationship manager includes managing the day to day activities of clients…. include provision of banking products and services to ensure that the bank retains and improve the services of our customers
Q. Can you tell us some of the provisions of the banking products and services you mentioned in your duties as the relationship manager?
A. So this includes basic bank accounts, banking cards, provision of loans, investment etc
Q. Did you hold any position if any before you became a relationship manager in Ecobank?
A. Yes. My first role was settlement officer as well as product manager and tied that with relationship products.
Q. Do you know the first accused, Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni?
A. Yes, I do as a client of Ecobank.
Q. Do you know the second accused, Seidu Agongo?
A. No, I don’t know him.
Q. Do you know the third accused company, Agricult Ghana Limited?
A. No, I do not.
Q. How did you come to know the first accused person?
A. I met the first accused in his office where I have been referred to discuss a product with him, which could be of interest to him.
Q. When was this?
A. This should be somewhere in 2014?
Q. If you were introduced to first accused person, who made that introduction?
A. The introduction had come from the relationship manager of COCOBOD.
Q. How did this come about?
A. So the relationship manager of COCOBOD is the one who typically interacts with the corporate institutions and so when there is interest with a specific product, it is referred to the product specialist, of which I come in.
Q. So when he introduced you to first accused, did anything happen?
A. Yes, we visited Dr. Opuni’s office and we explained to him the product that we have, including a credit card, initially he didn’t want to sign up to the product, but we did well to convince him to sign up for the credit card product, which also meant he had to open and operate an account with the bank, so to service the credit card. So we proceeded to submit documents for account opening.
Q. Can you tell this court what the credit card account is?
A. As the name says, it is a credit card, it is a line of credit, which to the bank will offer to a client and issue you a card to that line. And a client can also increase the amount on the card subject to his preference of usage of the card.
Q. How do you increase the amount on the card?
A. The card is usually issued to high network clients as it is generally considered a privileged card. Now for a client to increase the amount, that is the reason why the client should own an account with the bank to provide for that service or sending money from the account onto the credit card.
Q. How many bank accounts did the first accused operate with Ecobank, to the best of your knowledge?
A. Dr Opuni has one account for this purpose.
Q. You talk about a client increasing money on the card, can you remember the opening balance of the first accused, when you opened the account?
A. No.
Q. When the first accused opened the account, did he deposit any money in it?
A. Definitely he would. The reason why I said is that such an individual to open an account, one of the requirements would be to deposit an initial amount.
Q. After you open this account did you have anything to do with the account of first accused?
A. Yes, as a high network client we assist him on a day to day basis of the products, in this case, the credit card, which includes the guidelines on the usage of the card, how to credit or top up the card, and how make convenient usage. This may vary from client to client. For Dr. Opuni, we use to credit his account with cash and he gave the bank instructions to credit his card.
Q. Kindly tell us where were these payments made to the credit card?
A. They were made from Dr Opuni’s account.
Q. You mentioned that you assisted with the day to day management of the card, including how to credit or top up the card. In this particular case, did you, Reginald Aduakwa, personally play any role in the top up of the card?
A. Yes, so I mentioned, Dr. Opuni will deposit cash into his account, he will typically bring cash to the bank where he will call, I will meet him at the premises of the bank’s car park, picked up the cash and deposit in his account, following which I will inform him of the deposit. The client would also have access to alerts, text alerts and/or email alerts, of transactions to his account to confirm fulfilment of his request and/or instructions.
Q. Can you tell this court the number of times the first accused came to the bank car park and called you to come for the cash, which you deposited in his account?
A. No, I would not record the number of times, it was several countless times.
Q. As the relationship officer, were you the only person who took cash from the first accused to deposit in his account if you know?
A. I will say yes, as I said earlier, that was his mode of operations and I was aware of the transactions on his account.
Q. How did you become aware of the fact that you were the only one who deposited money in his account?
A. So, Dr Opuni will typically call me on his way to the bank or he intended to come to the bank, so I may meet him at the premises and facilitate the cash payment transactions. Also, he will advise on payments that he wanted to be done on his card.
Q. Do you as the relationship officer know the purpose of transferring monies onto his account?
A. Yes, the monies on his account were used to make payments on his cards, which I know he used on his travels
Q. You said you know his travels, what was the nature of this travels, and where were these travels by first accused?
A. These were international travels and not local, to various countries.
Q. Can you tell us the average sum of deposit which were made by the first accused through you on this account?
A. I cannot say for sure, but averagely between GH10,000 to GH25,000.
Q. You were called to EOCO in connection with a deposit concerning the first accused account, do you remember?
A. Yes I do, but the EOCO invitation if I recall, they also wanted me to explain the occurrence of my name in Dr. Opuni’s account.
Q. Can you tell us the explanation of the occurrence of your name on Dr. Opuni’s account?
A. Yes, as I mentioned previously, I pick up the cash and deposit in Dr. Opuni’s account, which meant that on several occasion my name will show or reflect as the depositor
Q. At EOCO, can you tell the court what deposit was specifically the subject of investigation
A. There was an amount which showed the name of someone else in the account
Q. Can you remember the name?
A. Not clearly at that point, but following the discussion, which have gone in the media, etc, I recognise the name.
Q. What was the name?
A. The name was Seidu Agongo.
Q. Do you know anything about this deposit of GH¢25,000 by Seidu Agongo into the account of the first accused?
A. Yes I do.
Q. How do you know about this deposit?
A. I recalled the circumstances around this deposit and if I may, so Dr. Opuni had called typically, alerting me that he will come to the bank to make deposit, he had subsequently called again that he will not come to make the deposit himself as he typically does.
Q. How does he typically make the deposit?
A. Again he will bring the money himself to the premises of the bank, he will call me, I will go to the car park to receive the deposit and make the deposit in the bank’s branch of his account.
Q. When he called you that he was unable to come to the bank as he has earlier called that day, did anything happen between you and him?
A. Yes, so he subsequently called that he is unable to bring the money himself, he will send someone to bring the money to me to deposit in the bank. He had mentioned the name, but I do not recall the name, only that I recalled it was a northern name. So he said he will give my number to the fellow to call me when he gets to the bank.
So I received a call from a gentleman saying that Dr. Opuni has sent him to deposit some money. I had explained that I was busy at that time, so he had to wait for me to come down at a point to assist him.
I delayed a bit and I went downstairs and called the number, which had previously called me and the person explained that he had done the deposit and had left because I delayed.
So I then went to check on the account to confirm the deposit and went ahead to call the client, in this case Dr. Opuni, to advise that an amount has been deposited by the person he sent, but I was unable to assist.
Q. Was the sum of money deposited exactly what Dr. Opuni informed you about?
A. Yes.
Q. How much was it?
A. It was GH25,000 Ghana.
Q. At EOCO, what explanation did you give to them as to this sum of money which was deposited in Dr Opuni’s account by Seidu Agongo?
A. I cannot readily recall all the details of the EOCO discussions, which happened several years ago, but the same fact of the deposit applies.
Q. If you say same facts apply, can you tell us what same fact you are referring to, is it what you narrated to the court this morning?
A. Yes, that is that
Q. So what do you say when the prosecution alleges that this GH25,000 which was deposited into Dr. Opuni’s account is a bribe, based on your knowledge of the fact concerning the deposit of this GH25,000?
A. Counsel, it is not in my place to determine if it is a bribe or not, what I know is what I narrated to the court, the circumstances surrounding how the money was deposited into the bank account.
Q. And from the circumstances, which you have narrated to this court, who is the owner of this GH¢25000 which was deposited in the account of Dr. Opuni?
A. I believe the money would be for Dr. Opuni, as the purpose for which the money is used for was for his credit card payment.
Q. Can you confirm to this court again, that Dr. Opuni informed you that he was bringing this same sum of GH25000 on that same day when the money was deposited by Seidu Agongo?
A. Yes.
Q. And can you further confirm that he subsequently called you that he was busy but the money he said he was going to bring would be brought on his behalf by Seidu Agongo, that it would be given to you to deposit in his account?
A. Again, counsel, as I mentioned earlier I do not recall the name he mentioned, all that I recalled was that someone was going bring money on his behalf
Q. Did you see Seidu Agongo in person, when he deposited the money?
A. No, counsel, as I mentioned earlier when I came downstairs I called the number and the gentleman confirmed that he had made payment and he had left
Q. Which branch of Ecobank.
A. This is the head office branch at Ridge West.
Q. Is it still the head office?
Codjoe, My Lord, that would be all for the witness.
Cross examination by Benson
Q. Sir, can you recall when you were first invited to EOCO?
A. No, faintly, but I believe it was in 2018.
Q. And did you give them a statement?
A. Yes I did, in the presence of the lawyer from Ecobank.
Q. How many statements did you give to EOCO?
A. One, I have only been there once.
Q. It is true, it is not that you have never met Seidu Agongo, have you?
A. No I haven’t.
Q. And you have also never met any officer of the third accused person?
A. No.
Q. It is true that although you as the relationship officer of A1 constantly does his transactions, other officers of Ecobank could willingly assist A2 in your absence
A. Yes.
Q. Indeed, when called, the gentleman was supposed to bring you the GH25,000 and he said he had done the transactions already, you did not think it was out of the ordinary, is that correct?
A. Yes that is correct. Indeed there are several ways that he could have done that transactions without my knowledge
Q. You also did not see anything wrong with the transaction, did you?
A. No I didn’t
Q. Sir, it is true that the banks do bend over backwards to their high network clients, is that correct?
A. Counsel I don’t think the banks bend over backwards, but we do offer preferential treatments
Q. That includes for example, sometimes sending the cash to the offices of your high network clients, if they require those withdrawal
A. I wouldn’t say with my employers, but I know with some banking practices that is done
Q. Look at exhibit KK and the transaction on 16th of July 2014, at the amount (credit) column is 33,000 Ghana cedis
A. Yes
Q. It was paid in by one Mavis Boateng, that is correct
A. Yes
Q. Do you know Mavis Boateng?
A. Not that I recalled, but looking at the opening balance, that was the first transaction on the account. I know the colleague I went with him to open the account in Dr Opuni’s office was also called Mavis Boateng
Q. Please look at the transaction on 27th of August 2014, have you seen the transaction
A. Yes
Q. How much is the amount?
A. GH45,000.
Q. Was paid in by one R. Aduakwa, is that correct?
A. Yes please.
Q. Would you happen to know who the said R. Aduakwa is?
A. Yes, that would be me.
Q. You look at the 5th of March 2015.
A. Yes.
Q. Your good self deposited an account of GH100,000 in the account for A1 is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. On the 8th of March 2015, you again deposited GH50,000 in A1’s account, is that correct?
A. That’s correct.
Q. When you look at 23rd of June 2015 and the 3rd of August 2015, you deposited GH20,000 and GH50,000 respectively in that account
A. Confirmed, yes
Q. On the 31st of August, you deposited GH50,000 in the account, is that also correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Look at the transaction on 26th September 2015, the cash deposit was GH50,000
A. Yes.
Q. This time, your name didn’t appear, it was Dr. Opuni, what may have occurred?
A. Typically it would be a narration capture difference, so technically the way transactions are captured evolved.
So if I have come to make a deposit on behalf of the client, you can capture the client name, in some instances, some operations would capture my name as the depositor. But today as banking guidelines, even a third party depositor must show ID so that his name would be captured correctly, the Id is Ghana card
Q. Sir look at the statement and tell this court if the debit transactions were all by card transactions?
A. Yes, I can confirm that the main debits to the account were all card transactions, however I also do recognize some e-product charges such as 5 Ghana cedis as e-product charges and 0.87 cedis which reflect VAT on the product charged
Q. Indeed, it is true that the deposit when captured Dr. Opuni’s name were mainly after June 2016, that is correct, prior to that was Reginald Aduakwa
A. Yes.
Q. Did they show the statement to you at EOCO?
A. I cannot recall but I think so.
Q. So the transaction of 3rd October 2014 is the transaction that reflect the depositor as SeiduAgongo, is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And it is in respect of that transaction that you said you received a call from the first accused person, is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Indeed, it is true that if you had gone down to assist the person A1 had sent to you, your name would have reflected as the depositor, is that correct?
A. That is correct.
Benson. My Lord that would be all for him.
Cross examination by Prosecution
Q. Reginald you told this court in your evidence in chief that you were making deposits on behalf of Dr.Opuni on an amount ranging between 10 to 25, 000 cedis
A. Yes.
Q. But when you went through exhibit KK you Reginald was making deposits of A1 of an amount of up to 100,000 – is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. So you see it is not true that you were only making deposits of an amount between 10 to 25 000 cedis on behalf of A1
A. Yes, so I have stated earlier, these transactions were many years ago, of a portfolio I have several clients including Dr.Opuni. Therefore the amount are not something I commit to memory. After the statement had been shown to me, I do realize the amount are not as small as I thought, credit card limits are technically in the range of 10,000 cedis to 20,000 cedis, and so repayment reflect same
Q. Your evidence that you took custody of amount between GH10,000 to GH25,000 on behalf of A1, is not something the court should rely on?
A. Again, the amounts here as I mentioned here is recollection of the then. It does not change the material fact of transactions done on behalf of Dr.Opuni
Q. I’m putting it to you that you have come to this court today to mislead the court by your evidence
A. No counsel, that is not my intention at all. I have explained to you why those amounts vary. Again I have not seen this statement or discussed details in many years.
Q. Reginald, you told this court that on the 10th October 2014, A1 called you in respect of the deposit of GH25,000 – is that correct?
A. Yes that is correct.
Q. He also informed you that he was sending someone to meet you on his behalf, is that correct?
A. Correct.
Q. The said individual called you when he got to the banks premises is that also correct?
A. Correct.
Q. And on that particular day, you told this individual that you were very busy.
Codjoe: my we object to this, he never said that
Q. On that particular day, according to you, you explained to the individual that you were busy and so he should wait for you to come downstairs. You said that?
A. Yes I was busy at that time, so I said to him I would delay
Q. And the individual went ahead to do the transaction without recourse to you
A. That is right.
Q. I’m putting it to you that on the day in question, neither A1 nor anybody called you in respect of the deposit of any GH25,000.
A. That is not true.
Q. Please give him exhibit LL2. Which is the statement of A1, can you please read the portion indicated to you stating the GH25,000?
A. The GH25,000 that was paid by ….was given to him by me to pay into my account.
Q. So you see if you tell this court that A1 called you to assist with the deposit of the said amount, you are simply not been truthful to this court?
A. My Lord, I am being truthful to the court about the event that day, and I am struggling to see how this statement I just read out points to being untruthful
Q. I’m further putting it to you that nowhere did A1 mention your name or his instructions to you in what you have just read to the court
A. Yes, I agree it is not stated here, but what I have narrated is the story that I know from that day.
Q. Please take a look at exhibit MM, that is the statement of A2, can you please read the portion indicated to you to the hearing of the court
A. He reads…
Q. Reginald your name was never mentioned by A1 in connection with the said payment as you have read to the court?
A. Yes I agree my name was not mentioned.
Q. You have come to this court to talk about issue you know nothing about?
A. My Lord so for me I’m only as requested by the court to answer to the questions or queries relating to the transactions and that is what I have done.
Q. I’m putting it to you that you know absolutely nothing about the GH25,000 transactions between A1 and A2 that occurred on 10th October 2014?
A. Again the circumstances I know regarding this transaction I have shared with the court
Prosecution: my Lord that would be all for him.
