The Audit Service has reacted to a news report of a missing GH¢ 52.5 billion which has been transferred from Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) to unknown sources.

A statement issued by the service on Tuesday, December 1 said its attention has been drawn to a publication in the social media in connection with their letter No. EID/B.Line/Aud/20/7 issued on the 5th October 2020 concerning their audit observation on transfer of tax receipts by Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) to unknown sources amounting to GH52.5 billion.

According to the statement signed by Deputy Auditor-General, George Swanzy Winful, the audit exercise in reference was a special audit exercise requested by Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta in a letter dated August 15, 2020, based on the mandate of the President under Article 187(8).

“The request included the following: the confirmation of the transfer of receipts from the various transit accounts maintained by commercial banks into the respective BoG Holding Accounts from 2015 to date; providing assurance that all CCVRs of Customs dating back from 2015 to date have been duly credited to the authorized banks  accounts within the specified periods; and to investigate and confirm that all transfers and debits in all Government accounts were duly approved by the Controller and Accountant-General and the Ministry of Finance from 2015 to date”, the statement revealed.

The statement indicates that the letter in circulation is one of the letters which we issued to participating commercial banks for their responses to infractions noted during the reconciliation of their statement. It added that the Audit Service intends surcharging any participating commercial bank who defaults in transferring tax receipts collected from various transit accounts into respective BoG Holding Accounts.