Carl Wilson Busted In Multiple Car Thefts

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Alex Segbefia's boy, Carl Wilson, has been busted in the web of car stealing.

The lies he told on Asempa Fm yesterday were exposed when National Security operatives at about 4:00 pm arrested a 4×4 Chrysler Pacifica Wagon he illegally sold to one of his cronies.

The Chrysler with identification number 2A8GF78X37F365174 got missing from the Tema port under very obscure circumstances. It was realized that forged documents were used to clear the car from the port on 14TH August, 2009.

Very verifiable documents also available to the Daily Post indicate that the Chairman of the Confiscated Vehicles Allocation Committee (CVAC) unilaterally declared four genuine 4×4 cars as stolen and sold them for a pittance.

The vehicles in contention are GMC Yukon, Acura MDX Wagon and two Chryslers.

Though the importers of the said vehicles have provided Certificate of Titles to show that the cars were not stolen, Carl Wilson will not budge as he hurriedly fast-tracked processes to sell those cars under allocation.

On the part of the Acura MDX Wagon, a Certificate of Title numbered X0633223, a copy obtained from the United States Department declares it as a vehicle which has properly passed through the purchase and export processes from the State of Kansas.

It was signed by Joan Wagnon, Secretary of Revenue and Carmen Alldritt, Director of Vehicles.

Under mysterious circumstances, the Acura got missing from the Golden Jubilee Terminal.

Investigations have established that Carl Wilson sold the car to one Kofi Adjei. The car was cleared by shipping agent, Stewise Shipping.

The Chryslers which came from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with vehicle identification number 2A8GM8L77RL28513 were signed by Allen D. Biehler, Secretary of Transportation.

The GMC Yukon with title and identification number 1GKEK63U65J139234 came from the State of New York and its Certificate of Title was authenticated by Moore Gregory, on behalf of the sellers.

Central Intelligence Agency and State Department files corroborated Bill of Laden details, stating they are accurate.

According to the United States security agencies, the cars in contention are not stolen ones.

Interestingly, Carl Wilson did not even await the outcome of investigations by the Ghanaian security agencies to prove that the vehicles were stolen.

He hurriedly allocated them to some of his friends and sold them at very ridiculously low prices.

In our next edition, check out how Carl Wilson forged documents and forced CEPS officers to clear the cars.

Additionally, a top man at the Castle aided in this dubious act.

Stay tuned

Source: Daily Post

NDC supporters lock out national officers, call for Carl Wilson's head

Angry supporters of the ruling National Democratic Congress have locked out national officers at the national headquarters of the party. They say the Chairman of Confiscated Vehicle Allocation Committee Carl Wilson must be sacked by National Executive of the party. According to them, Mr Wilson has been engaging in corrupt practices that seek to tarnish the image of the party. The youth, numbering over 200, invaded the party headquarters at 5am Thursday, and say they will stay there until Mr Wilson is sacked. Carl Wilson has been accused of unilaterally selling confiscated vehicles under questionable circumstances. More soon.

Corruption: Segbefia Defends Carl Wilson

Alex Segbefia THE DEPUTY Chief of Staff, Alex Segbefia, has mapped out a strong defence for Carl Wilson, stressing that the chairman of the Confiscated Vehicles Committee is innocent of all the allegations leveled against him. Putting up a defence for his darling boy in an interview with Oman FM, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) stalwart said Mr. Wilson has not been found guilty of any of the allegations made against him by his opponents. Mr. Segbefia contended that various committees set up by the government to investigate Mr. Wilson over allegations of selling confiscated cars have all cleared him of any wrongdoing. But interestingly the public has not been fed this wholesome information all this while, though the allegations the so-called committees investigated were made in public. Mr. Segbefia noted that because Carl Wilson is doing a marvelous work at the Castle, opponents of the government are bent on pulling him down with unfounded allegations. He indicated that Mr. Wilson would have lost his position by now if he had been found culpable of any of the many allegations leveled against him in recent times. Dismissing rumours that Mr. Wilson was his in-law, the Deputy Chief of Staff pointed out; “The government will not shield Mr. Wilson for any reason or whatsoever”. Mr. Wilson has in recent times made news headlines following his alleged active involvement in the selling of confiscated vehicles at cheaper prices to functionaries of the ruling party and sometimes outright stealing. The chairman of the Confiscated Vehicles Committee is in the news again as he has been fingered in a case where stolen goods from the United Kingdom (UK) were allegedly carted away. Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, MP for Manhyia has tasked the government to investigate the chairman for allegedly taking away 18 confiscated motorbikes from the Tema Harbour believed to have been stolen from London. According to the Manhyia MP, security detail at the Tema Port impounded the said motorbikes which were shipped into the country sometime in April last year, and that Mr. Wilson recently allegedly disposed of the motorbikes in question. Commenting on the issue, though Mr. Segbefia said he was not privy to the issue, he was quick to conclude that the allegation was one of the many unfounded ones made in the past to tarnish Mr. Wilson’s image. He dared Hon. Opoku Prempeh, affectionately called Napo, to furnish Interpol and other relevant bodies with concrete evidence if indeed his allegation has any basis. Reacting to Mr. Segbefia’s comments, Napo said he has concrete facts to support his allegation but was waiting for the Minister of the Interior to officially respond to the issue in Parliament before taking that step. He noted that he decided to first of all file to ask the Minister that question five weeks ago because he wanted to give the minister an opportunity to tell the nation what he knows about the issue. “I am prepared to come out with full details of the facts of the matter and also proceed to deal with the relevant bodies after the Minister has officially responded to my question”, Napo emphasized. Carl Wilson has been accused severally of allegedly stealing confiscated cars and selling them on the open market with assistance from some deviant garage operators in the nation’s capital. From Daily Guide/Morgan Owusu, Kumasi

Sipa Yankey to appear before CHRAJ today

Dr Sipa Yankey, former Health Minister Former Health Minister Dr George Sipa Yankey is expected to appear before the public hearings of the Commission on Human Rights and Administration Justice (CHRAJ) into the Mabey and Johnson bribery case, which begins today. Dr Sipa Yankey resigned after a UK court implicated him and other public officials as having received monies from UK construction firm Mabey and Johnson. He has maintained his innocence and at today’s initial hearing he is expected to put up his defence. The public hearings form part of the final phase of the commission’s investigations into the case. CHRAJ Commissioner Emile Short said a three-member panel will sit to hear Dr Yankey’s response. “In some cases that we investigate, it gets to a stage where it becomes necessary to take evidence; that is, witnesses are called to testify on both sides, that is from the commission and from the person that we are investigating…It is that stage that we have got to,” Mr Short told Joy News. “At the end of all the evidence, then we write a decision.” Other officials who were also named in the controversy include former Roads Minister Ato Quarshie, Alhaji Amadu Seidu and Boniface Abubakar Saddique. They have all denied the allegations of bribery against them. Your super station Joy 99.7 FM will bring listeners a live broadcast of the hearings. Source: Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Mubarak: NDC party gurus bribed delegates with GH¢3,000, phones

A defeated National Youth Organiser of the ruling NDC has accused party leaders of bribing delegates in the just ended Congress held in Sunyani on Saturday. Ras Mubarak alleges that Western Regional delegates were given, GH¢3,000 each as well as mobile phones as inducement before casting their votes. Mubarak lost to Ludwik Hlose who is secretary at the office of the Chief of Staff in a competitive election which saw Anita De Souza being elected as National Women’s Organiser. I can inform you on authority that Western Regional delegates were given ¢30,000,000 (GH¢3,000) on the afternoon before election. I can tell you on authority that mobile phones were distributed in the evening and morning before elections,” he told Joy News’ Sammy Darko in an interview. Asked if he could substantiate his allegations, Mubarak responded in the affirmative, saying “to win an election in NDC, you either have to belong to the Rawlings camp or the Castle camp. Mubarak also accused party gurus of underhand manipulations in order to have Ludwik elected into office. "He was not in the race in the first place. This is someone who works in the office of the president as an aide. Automatically by the guidelines that were released by the National Executive Committee of the party, he is a government staff and did not qualify to have contested in that race," he alleged. He accused a minister, whose name he did not mention, of talking candidates out of the contest even before the elections took place. Describing Ludwik as a likeable and easy going person, Mubarak explained that his concerns were not borne out of sour grapes but out of the desire to see Ghanaian politics in which a fair playing field is created for everybody no matter the background. But the National Youth Organiser elect who takes over from Communications Minister Haruna Iddrisu has dismissed the allegations. Ludwik Hlose said his hard work and determination earned him his new position. Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Doe Adjaho, Muntaka, Akomea mentioned in FDB audit report

Lawyer for Mr Agyarko, Egbert Faibaille, says he has duly sent his client’s responses to the Auditor General. An Audit Service report on the accounts of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), then headed by the former Chief Executive Emmanuel Agyarko, has further revealed several sums extended to key parliamentarians as honouraria and travel allowances. The audit report, signed by Assistant Auditor-General Roberta Quarshie, said a total of $29,150 was given to the legislators, who apparently sat on a parliamentary committee. The report mentions the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Doe Adjaho and the NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for Upper West Akyem, Samuel Sallas Mensah, as having received $2,500 each. MP for Asawase and former Sports Minister Muntaka Mohammed reportedly received $4,000; G. Okyere, $4,000; A. Laryea-Odai, $3,000; Hon Haruna $2,000 and Hon Okyere, $2,000 (names written as they appeared in document). The report also mentioned the MP for Okaikoi South, Nana Akomea, as receiving the biggest amount ($5,250) as per diem for travelling to the UK whilst Local Government Minister Yieleh Chireh received some $3,000 in allowances. The document however indicated that the payments were not acknowledged by the alleged payees. “We were however informed by those Parliamentarians that neither they nor their authorised representatives had received any moneys from FDB,” it said. The report said the former head of accounts at the FDB told the audit team that payments made on 30 March 2007 were “received with payment schedule by the Clerk of Parliament of the committee on behalf of the select committee.” “This assertion could however not be substantiated,” it said. The document further stated that other payments made “vide PV. No. 1504371 and 1506317 were received in bulk by the head of legal (FDB) during a familiarisation visit” to two countries with the MPs. “Again, we did not sight any authority note from the intended payee authorisation the former head of Legal Unit to receive the amount on their behalf,” the document stated. Meanwhile Mr Doe Adjaho has denied ever receiving any money from the FDB. Speaking on the Super Morning Show on Joy FM, Mr Adjaho said he had never sighted the so-called audit report. He stressed that the report is a draft document and asserted that the final report will clear him of any wrongdoing. Lawyer for Mr Agyarko, Egbert Faibaille, says he has duly sent his client’s responses to the Auditor General. Story by Fiifi Koomson/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Castle Chops ¢43bn On T&T And Workshops?

Prez John Evans Atta Mills at the Castle, Osu. Related Stories Documents available to Daily Guide indicate that the Presidency has apparently engaged in profligate expenditure of public funds, overshooting its budget to the tune of ¢43 billion or GH¢4,310,777 in just nine months, for the comfort of Castle staffers. The Office of the President was allocated an amount of ¢66 billion or GH¢6,617,043 for the whole year, but by the ninth month, over ¢109 billion or GH¢10,927,820 had been blown mostly on travels and workshops, contrary to the President’s austerity proclamation. The colossal amount constitutes over-spending by the Office of the President over and above what has been approved for the Presidency in the 2009 budget. This expenditure is occurring at a time that even meager allowances of poorly paid hard-working teachers have been drastically slashed by the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC). This apparent reckless spending, on the part of government, was brought to light through a document comprising expenditure returns for the period January to September 2009, prepared by the Office of Government Machinery (OGM), which has been presented to the Finance Committee of Parliament. Daily Guide has learnt that the over expenditure of ¢43bn has been explained to be on ‘Service Activity Expenses’, comprising training and conference cost, travel and transport (T&T), and special services. Daily Guide has further learnt that the Finance Committee of Parliament, which has the oversight responsibility of the Executive and ‘guardians’ of public purse, has strongly frowned on the extravagant expenditure at the Presidency and therefore asked the Deputy Chief of Staff, Alex Segbefia, to appear before the Committee to justify the spending before the 2010 budget estimates are approved. The document, a copy of which is in the possession of DAILY GUIDE, also indicates that on the contrary, the Vice-President’s Secretariat, General Administration and Press Secretariat among others all operated within their budgets. Speaking to DAILY GUIDE, a number of MPs whose gratuity or ex-gratia was reduced as part of austere measures by President Mills, were enraged by the reckless expenditure by the Castle, describing the conduct of the Presidency as a betrayal of trust and failure to keep faith with its own policy of cutting cost at all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). The extravagant expenditure by the Office of the President is coming on the heels of an exposure that the governing NDC has blown a whopping amount of ¢56 billion or GH¢5,606,176.11 on the comfort of Ministers of State through the renovation of bungalows. It was discovered that as part of the expenditure, the Atta Mills Administration spent ¢8.58 billion on the renovation and furnishing of seven ministerial bungalows, with an average cost per bungalow of ¢1.2 billion or GH¢122,581.45. The startling figures which were contained in a written answer by the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing to a question raised by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bimbilla, Dominic Nitiwul, a copy of which DAILY GUIDE sighted, also revealed that government spent ¢41.1 billion or GH¢4,110,396.74 on 57 ministerial bungalows in Accra. Government’s attempt to water-down the effect of the spending spree has been condemned by many Ghanaians who believe the Mills Administration is over indulging in what the ruling NDC founder, former President Jerry John Rawlings, has described as “reckless dissipation” of public funds by “greedy bastards”. It would be recalled that just at the beginning of President Mills’ 11-month-old presidency, the NDC Transition Team blew a staggering ¢1.3 billion on tea, during its sittings in only one month, at a time Ghanaians were being told to tighten their belts. There were also reports of government lavishly spending tax payers’ money to airlift cronies considered to be highly challenged in football matters to CAF and FIFA events to serve as independent observers and advisers. Source: D-Guide

Hannah Bissew rubbishes 'kickback' allegations

Deputy Works and Housing Minister, Dr. Hannah Tetteh Bissew says claims of corruption and profligate expenditure in the renovation of seven ministerial bungalows by opposition MPs were premature and unfounded. Government in a written response to a question posed by Bimbilla MP Dominic Nitiwul on how much government spent on the renovation works indicated that a total of GH¢850,000 was spent on seven houses. The breakdown for the total cost included ¢72,000 on furniture, ¢649,000 on civil works including electrical, 14,000 on appliances, ¢55,000 on curtains and ¢68,000 on carpets. But the MP was not convinced about the total cost and the breakdown, accusing government of bloating the figures. “I am saying there was massive corruption in there. There is no way any body in Ghana can justify the fact that a bungalow that was renovated in 2001, you are renovating that bungalow at that cost." "...What are you implying that, that those people were so reckless? Were they kids? They have messed up the bungalows to the extent that you have to use GH¢122,000 to renovate it. I think the people of Ghana have been shortchanged,” the MP told Joy News’ Sammy Darko after parliamentary proceedings. But in an interesting twist to the controversy the Deputy Works and Housing Minister told Joy News that no bungalow has been renovated. According to her, the amounts quoted by the MP were only estimates from the Public Works Department detailing the cost of renovation, insisting that government had not expended a penny on any of those bungalows. Even though she admitted that the cost of bungalows were originally part of the questions which the MPs needed answers to, she explained that she was silent on the details because the Bimbilla MP failed to pose the specific question on the floor of parliament. “I did not answer that question. It wasn’t posed to me today in parliament. It was part of the questions that came. It was written but we did not speak to that question because the Hon Member of parliament I am not sure whether he was there. If he was there that question was not posed,” she explained. If that question had been posed to me, I would have explained, just like I am doing now, she told Joy FM's Bernard Saibu. Asked if government intends to do something about the estimates, the deputy minister said she believes the substantive minister after thorough assessment with the experts will cut down on the cost to be incurred on the renovation. She challenged the Bimbilla MP to provide evidence on the allegations that the ministry had bloated figures meant for the renovation. Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Pianim: I can vouch Prez Mills will not steal from Ghanaians

Mr. Kwame Pianim says Ghana is fortunate to have a president in Prof. J.E.A. Mills who will not steal from the people. Email Print Have Your Say ( 35 ) Renowned Ghanaian politician, economist and management consultant, Mr. Kwame Pianim says Ghana is fortunate to have a president in Prof. J.E.A. Mills who will not steal from the people. According to Kwame Pianim, he has seen President Mills on at least two occasions return ‘brown envelopes’ where they belong, a situation he said he did not see under John the first or John the second, in apparent reference to ex-presidents Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor’s regimes. Mr. Pianim, one of lead discussants at the first Joy FM Debate 2009 held Monday morning at the Coconut Grove Hotel in Accra, was responding to a contributor’s question on why Ghana is not making much progress in her fight against corruption. Mr. Pianim said Zero tolerance must involve everyone and must start from the top because countries noted for corruption have corrupt leaders, but he was happy Professor Mills is the President of Ghana because he can vouch that he will not steal from Ghanaians. The challenge however, is how he makes sure those below him also tow his line. “To me if you go to any country where there is corruption, the head of state is corrupt, if he is not corrupt it won’t happen…and fortunately for Ghana now, we have a president that at least I will put my hand in the fire for, that he will not steal from the people. I have seen him on two occasions give envelopes back and I didn’t see it happen under John the first or John the second but at least now we are progressing and we have a president who I think will not steal from the people. How is he going to make sure that the people below him will also not do that – that is the question.” The Joy FM Debate 2009 was a collaboration between Coconut Grove Hotel and Joy FM in helping concensus building on national development efforts. It was under the theme Building Concesus on a National Development Agenda. Story by Isaac Yeboah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana