How NPA Suspects Grabbed Clifton Homes, Filling Stations, Zonda Trucks, Lashibi Lands, Cars & More

Details are emerging about how Ex National Petroleum Authority (NPA) officials and their private business partners blew over GH¢130 million in alleged extorted funds was laundered into high-end properties, trucks, fuel stations, and even a luxury Mercedes Benz, per court documents cited by MyNewsGh.com. 

At the heart of the scheme is Dr. Mustapha Abdul Hamid, ex CEO of the NPA, Jacob Kwamina Amuah, former Coordinator of the Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF), and Wendy Newman, a staff member of the NPA’s Audit Department. 

Together with a network of accomplices and shell companies, they are accused of orchestrating multiple high-value transactions aimed at concealing the origin of illicit funds extorted from bulk oil transporters and oil marketing companies.

Luxury Real Estate and Hidden Fortunes

According to court documents, Propnest Limited, a company controlled by the accused, purchased seven (7) high-end homes from Clifton Homes at a cost of GH¢9.6 million using extorted public funds. In another laundering operation, they transferred GH¢32.7 million to Agyenkwart Limited to buy luxury blocks of houses and plots of land in Accra.

The transactions, carried out between May 2023 and January 2025, were designed to disguise the origin of funds which prosecutors allege were fraudulently obtained by abusing official positions within the NPA.

In yet another transaction, GH¢2.35 million was paid to Archgate Developers Limited for three additional houses under the guise of corporate investment by Propnest.

Logistics Companies Used As Fronts

Through another company, Kel Logistics Limited, the accused are said to have funneled tens of millions of cedis into the purchase of industrial trucks and heavy-duty vehicles.

A breakdown includes GH¢450,000 paid to Zonda Tec Ghana Limited in October 2022 for two trucks. GH¢5.2 million in April 2023 for additional truck acquisitions and GH¢29.7 million between February 2023 and September 2024 also to Zonda Tec for large-scale truck purchases.

In October 2023, Kel Logistics also transferred GH¢1.77 million to CFAO Ghana Ltd for the purchase of a 2023 Mercedes Benz GLE 450 a luxury SUV allegedly for personal benefit.

Lavish Construction Projects Under Kings Energy

The corruption scheme extended further into the petroleum retail sector through Kings Energy Limited, another entity linked to the same suspects. In October 2022, Kings Energy paid GH¢24.4 million to Cell Construction Limited and Kabutech Ventures to build fuel filling stations. The funds, according to prosecutors, originated from extortion and were laundered under the pretense of legitimate commercial development.

The asset grab reached Lashibi, where they paid GH¢1.71 million to an individual named Godwin Korbla Tamakloe for a parcel of land with the alleged intent of hiding the source of their ill-gotten gains.

More soon…