More details have continued to pour in as hearings on Otumfuo’s money laundering saga continues to unfold…
News broke few days ago, that the leader of the Ashanti Kingdom, The Asentehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II is being cited in an ongoing money laundering case in the United Kingdom.
The case involves one Mark Frank Arthur, a staff of the Ghana International Bank (GIB) who was dismissed for assisting to transfer the controversial £350,000 into the personal account of the King. Mr. Arthur who deemed his dismissal unfair and wrongful, in seeking a redress, sued the GIB at the Central Employment Appeal Tribunal, London.
See: How Otumfuo was Named in £350,000 Money Laundering Suit
Latest on the news is a recent discovery that the Diplomatic Passport being used by the Ashanti King, is an expired one. The revelation was made by the Ghana International Bank in response to claims that it unfairly dismissed Mark Frank Arthur.
Arthur who is also from the Ashanti Kingdom, albeit also holding a UK citizenship, is arguing that he carried out the King’s instruction without questioning because of his status as a sovereign of his homeland.
But in a six-point rebutting statement on Wednesday, the Ghana International Bank insisted that nothing should have stopped Mr. Arthur from following laid down funds transfer procedures in serving the King.
“The claimant [Mr Arthur] did not check if the diplomatic passport was valid and in fact, it was expired. Even, if it had not expired, the claimant would have still have to follow the Respondent’s [Bank] processes which he failed to do,” the statement said.
While Mr. Arthur is praying court to order his reinstatement, the GIB is insisting that his dismissal was done with all due fairness.
According to the bank, it terminated Frank Arthur’s employment “for gross misconduct, gross negligence and breach of confidence. ‘The decision to dismiss was upheld by an independent third party who found the claimant had made a ‘catastrophic error of judgement.’”
Meanwhile, The Manhyia Palace has dismissed claims that the Asantehene did anything wrong in moving such a huge amount of cash from Ghana to the UK and subsequently transferring part of the funds to an account in Jersey, an Island in the UK.
In refuting the claims, reports from the palace argues that Otumfuo is a man of good repute who owns properties around the world including the UK, and therefore is financially unquestionable.
The Telegraph, on Tuesday, October 10, 2017, reported that Otumfuo in August 2016, summoned Mark Frank Arthur, a senior executive staff of the Ghana International Bank in the UK, to his residence in Henley-on-Thames and handed him a bag containing £199,9600 as well as $200,000 with consecutive serial numbers.
Mark Arthur who is from New Barnet, Hertfordshire and holds a dual citizenship of the UK and Ghana, accepted the colossal cash without questioning and deposited it into the King’s personal account with the GIB City office.
He said Otumfuo only told him that the monies were withdrawn from banks in Ghana and brought to the UK. He further revealed that he was also instructed by the Ashanti King to move $200,000 to an account at Standard bank in Jersey. This he told the tribunal, he carried out within hours.
However, a day after accepting the cash and making the transfer to Jersey, the bank reported the transactions to the National Crime Agency as suspicious. The Money laundering alert triggered an investigation into the illicit deposit and transfer, leading to the suspension and subsequent dismissal of Mr. Arthur.
It is however, apparent that no one would have heard anything more about the matter, had Mark Arthur accepted his dismissal in good faith. But having decided to challenge it in a court of law, Otumfuo got indicted.
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