Reports reaching MyNewsGh.com indicate the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has launched a parallel investigation into the board of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), days after the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) charged former NPA CEO, Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, and nine others in a GHC280 million extortion and money laundering case.
According to sources close to the probe, EOCO is now zeroing in on the roles played by NPA former board members and other top executives in a scheme that ran between at least May 2022 and late 2024 covering the Dr. Hamid, Perry Okudzeto and Linda Boamah Asante era as CEO and Deputy CEOs respectively.
The investigations, MyNewsGh.com was told, is linked to files from the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) based on whistleblower testimonies and complaints. Former board members and other Executives are expected to be invited in the coming days or weeks.
It will be recalled that the OSP made reference to a GHS1.3Billion amount in his first press conference on the NPA scandal but rather chose to charge the former NPA CEO on GHS280Million last week.
This portal understands the rest of the charges on the other allegedly stolen funds running into billions could involve some members of the board of the NPA who were not named.
The decision to widen the net comes in the wake of “disturbing overlaps” between board approvals and the actions of indicted executives, sources say.
The former board of the NPA was chaired by the respected Mr. Joe Addo-Yobo and includes several high-profile highly revered individuals such as broadcaster Kwami Sefa Kayi, legal practitioner Manuel Sawyyerr Esq., Dr. Clement Osei Amoako,
Bernard Owusu, Dr. Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, and NPP’s Diana Mogre among others. Notably, Dr. Abdul-Hamid who was named in the OSP’s charge sheet, was a members of the board. It is unclear whether he was also a subject of the new EOCO investigations.
The source did not indicate what specific alleged crimes were committed or permitted by any specific members of the board and what shape the investigation is taking so far.
A senior EOCO official speaking on condition of anonymity said the investigation covers those who had “fiduciary oversight.”
This expansion of the investigation intensifies pressure on the NPA, which is already reeling from the OSP’s charges that allege a “deliberate and unlawful” extortion of GHC280.5 million from petroleum transporters and oil marketing companies.
The OSP accuses Abdul-Hamid and other top officials of using their official positions to orchestrate a covert system of payments outside the Authority’s legal mandate.
Sources say EOCO is particularly interested in minutes of board meetings, internal memos, and approvals linked to “compliance fees,” “special projects,” or “industry contributions” that may have been used to mask illicit collections. Investigators are also combing through email correspondences and internal audit reports that could implicate board members or absolve them.
Legal experts suggest that board members may face charges if EOCO establishes that they had prior knowledge of the illegal scheme and failed to take appropriate action, or if they actively endorsed any elements of the extortion framework.
