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Clearing agent, 44 in court for duping state of GH¢16.4m
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A 44-year-old clearing agent, Francis Yaw Terrison is facing trial at an Accra High Court for allegedly duping the state of an amount of GH¢16,369,908.10.
The accused, a Freight Forwarder and the Chief Executive Officer of GATAFX Logistics Limited, a clearing agent company, who operated at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, is said to have forged Customs Excise Duty Documents and GCB receipts between 2014 and 2019 to defraud the state of the amount.
Mr Terrison is facing three counts of falsification, alteration and forgery of official documents, fraudulently evading customs duties and money laundering.
The facts of the case read in court indicated that the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in recent times had not been meeting its revenue targets and thus, the Intelligence Unit of the GRA decided to conduct thorough audit into transactions of some key freight forwards whose tax returns looked suspicious.
The court heard that the GRA zoomed on the accused person’s company GATFAX Logistics Limited and discovered that, the accused person’s company had from 2014 to 2019 suppressed customs excise duties to the tune of GH¢16, 369,908.10 for products his company cleared for Max International, a pharmaceutical company based in the United States of America.
The prosecution said as part of investigations, the Intelligence Unit of the GRA on January 1, 2020, wrote to Max International Company, the importer and GATFAX Logistics Limited, the clearing agency and obtained the import documents from 2017 to 2019.
The court heard that when the import documents were scrutinised, it was detected that, the accused person’s company between 2014 and 2019 under declared to Customs the required duty amount which was to be paid to the state, and paid a lesser amount.
The prosecution explained that on the contrary, the accused after paying a lesser amount, then scans the paid duty documents that he had generated from Customs and inserted or doctored the right duty figures which were supposed to have been paid to the state to make it reflect as the amount paid and used the forged receipts and documents to bill the importer, Max International and unduly benefitted from the suppressed amount differences.
The court heard that during interrogation and in his caution statement, the accused admitted the offence and narrated how he manipulated the system.
The prosecution told the court that the accused said he used proceeds realised from the deal to buy six plots of land at different locations at Oyarifa and Ayi-Mensa, both suburbs of Accra.
The court further heard that the accused used some of the monies to put up three separate storey-buildings on three of the plots.
BY TIMES REPORTER
General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Justin Kodua Frimpong, has filed his nomination to contest the position of General Secretary again as the party begins its rebuilding efforts ahead of the 2028 general elections.
He was accompanied by party stalwarts and supporters who were in high spirits, expressing confidence that he is the right person to hold the position.
Speaking after filing his nomination, Mr Kodua Frimpong assured the rank and file of the party that he would not disappoint them.
“I can assure you that the faith the rank and file of the party have had in me, I will never disappoint them,” he said.
He also pledged to run a clean campaign devoid of personal attacks.
“I can assure you that our internal campaign will be devoid of personal attacks,” he told his fellow contestants and the rank and file of the party as he seeks to retain his position.
His tenure has seen the party through the 2024 general elections, where the NPP lost power to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) after eight years in government.
The party is currently in a rebuilding phase, with internal elections scheduled to elect new national executives to lead its reorganization towards the 2028 polls.
The General Secretary position is considered one of the most influential in the party’s administrative structure, responsible for the day-to-day running of the party secretariat and implementation of party decisions.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) has disputed claims made on social media by comedian Michael Blackson concerning the treatment given to his late mother, saying a review found that the allegations did not accurately reflect what happened during her stay at the hospital.
In a statement issued in Accra on August 5, 2026, the management of UGMC expressed condolences to Mr. Blackson and his family over the death of his 83-year-old mother, who died at the facility on July 16, 2026.
The hospital said it had taken the concerns raised by Mr. Blackson seriously and conducted a thorough review in line with its clinical and administrative procedures.
According to the statement, the facts presented by Mr. Blackson on social media contained “numerous inaccuracies” and did not accurately reflect the medical care provided to his mother.
UGMC explained that she was referred to the facility from another hospital and received treatment there from May 27 to July 16, 2026, a period of about eight weeks.
The hospital stated that it would not release details of her diagnosis, treatment, medical records or other aspects of her care because it had a duty to protect patient confidentiality, even after death.
It said the decision was intended to respect the dignity of the deceased and the privacy of her family.
UGMC further stated that all clinical decisions at the facility are made by qualified healthcare professionals based on medical judgment, established standards of care and the best interests of the patient.
The statement added that such decisions are made in consultation with authorised family representatives where necessary and that billing and financial procedures are governed by institutional policies and are separate from clinical decision-making.
The hospital noted that it values feedback from patients and their families and considers both positive and negative comments important for improving the quality of care.
Mr. Blackson had earlier used social media to criticise the care his mother received at UGMC, prompting the hospital’s response.
By: Jacob Aggrey
