Madam Mildred Donkor, the third prosecution witness in the ongoing trial involving Kwabena Adu-Boahene and others, has told the court that she managed financial transactions on the account of BNC Communications Bureau Limited under the instruction of the accused.
Testifying under examination-in-chief led by Deputy Attorney-General Dr Justice Srem-Sai, Madam Donkor said her duties included facilitating the opening of the company’s bank account as well as executing withdrawals, transfers and payments linked to the accused persons.
According to her, BNC Communications Bureau Limited was introduced to her by Mr Adu-Boahene as one of his companies, after which she assumed responsibility for managing its financial operations.
She explained that prior to the issuance of cheque books for the BNC account, funds were routinely transferred to Advantage Solutions Limited to enable withdrawals and payments on behalf of the accused.
However, once cheque books became available, payments were made directly to third parties, including suppliers of construction materials such as cement and iron rods.
Madam Donkor further told the court that some payments were also made to her directly, acting on instructions from Mr Adu-Boahene.
The witness indicated that most of the instructions she received were verbal and were often described as loans.
This, she noted, prompted her to maintain independent records of the transactions for personal reference.
She identified an Excel spreadsheet she had compiled to track the withdrawals and payments.
However, its tendering in, the evidence was deferred after defence counsel, Mr Samuel Atta-Akyea, requested time to review a disclosure served in court.
In contrast, a notebook containing handwritten entries of transaction dates, amounts and beneficiaries was admitted into evidence without objection from the defence.
Madam Donkor also testified that some funds were transferred to Madam Margaret Ama Donkor, whom she described as the mother of Mr Adu-Boahene, to finance a construction project at Asokore in Kumasi.
She stated that she assisted in procuring building materials for the project.
An attempt by the prosecution to tender a photograph of the said construction project was, however, opposed by the defence.
Counsel argued that the image could not be verified since the witness had not personally visited the site.
The court consequently did not admit the photograph into evidence.
Additionally, the witness disclosed that she worked with pre-signed cheque books, filling in transaction details upon receiving instructions to execute payments.
She identified 12 such cheque books associated with various UMB Bank branches and companies linked to the accused.
The case continues.
By: Emmanuel Botsoe / businesspostonline
