The Accra High Court has adjourned the hearing of the case involving the former Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Gifty Oware-Mensah, after she failed to appear in court on Friday, October 17.
The court was informed that she had submitted a medical excuse covering two days.
Also, counsel for the former Executive Director of the NSA, Osei Asibey Antwi, who was present in court, told the judge that his client had been directed to report to police investigators in Kumasi and was currently complying with that instruction. The lawyer further disclosed that the defense team had not yet received a copy of the charge sheet.
The National Service Scheme (NSS) is currently embroiled in a massive financial scandal involving both Oware-Mensah and Asibey Antwi. The two are accused of overseeing a GH¢653 million fraud scheme, primarily linked to the payment of allowances to thousands of ghost service personnel.
A nationwide audit uncovered that although the NSS payroll listed over 180,000 personnel, only about 98,000 were confirmed as legitimate, with the remaining names allegedly fabricated to divert state funds.
In addition to the ghost-name allegations, Mrs. Oware-Mensah is also being investigated over a separate GH¢30.7 million loan fraud.
She is alleged to have registered a company under false pretenses to secure a loan from the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), using the allowances of service personnel as collateral.