A former Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Joseph Dindiok Kpemka, has expressed outrage over the malpractice uncovered at the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), leading to the imprisonment of its former Chief Executive Officer, Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu.

She was convicted on charges including causing financial loss to the state and conspiring to steal. An Accra High Court sentenced Tamakloe-Attionu to 10 years in jail, while MASLOC's former Chief Operating Officer, Daniel Axim, received a five-year prison term with hard labour.

Joseph Dindiok Kpemka, Esq., who reviewed the case documents, expressed shock at the extent of wrongdoing revealed.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, Mr Kpemka said that he could not believe it because the facts were concocted, stressing, “Because this was just not stealing, but naked thievery.”

“In one of the charges, the boss of MASLOC decided to give a loan to a rural bank and they did not even reach any agreement, yet the money was transferred to the rural bank. When the money got to the account of the rural bank, the people then asked what the interest rate was on the money you had sent to us.

“Imagine, something you should have done earlier was not done, then the interest rate was quoted by Sedina. When the interest rate was quoted, the rural bank management said, At the interest rate you’ve quoted, if we take this money, we cannot make any money out of it so we want to return it to you.”

Mr Kpemka emphasised that, as a matter of good corporate practice, the former CEO of MASLOC should have corresponded with the bank, providing her organisation's account details for the rural bank to directly deposit the money into, thereby ensuring transparency and accountability through the production of receipts.

“You know what she said, she directed them to cash the money and bring it to Accra and then they cashed the money in a GhanaMustGo, carried it to Accra. They met at Baatsona Total filling station and the money was packed into her boot and she drove away,” he said.

The former deputy AG provided additional clarification regarding MASLOC's intended nationwide sensitization workshops for specific groups, which were allocated approximately GH₵2 million. He revealed that less than five percent of this amount was actually used for its designated purpose, with the majority of the funds being distributed among other parties instead.

He also cited some instances where MASLOC misused some money, stating, “There was a fire disaster and some money was allocated to help the victims; just a small percentage of it was used; the rest was shared.

“There were some phones they had to buy; one on the market was GH₵100, and the price they quoted was GH₵400 each. Clearly, some vehicles were procured, in fact, those vehicles even delayed the trials because we had finished all the charges and then we bumped into a report that indicated that vehicles had been bought, some of them were thrice the market price, some were twice the market price, so we had to amend our charges and include all these.”

He maintained that the former MASLOC CEO was found guilty of all 78 charges, stating that it is one of the most “nauseating cases I have come across in legal prosecution.”

Mr. Kpemka emphasised that the brazen acts of "impunity, blatant theft, and corruption" committed by them were alarming.

During the court proceedings on April 16, 2024, both Sedina Attionu and Daniel Axim were convicted on 78 counts, including causing financial loss to the state, theft, conspiracy to steal, money laundering, and violating public procurement laws.

The trial of the two individuals has been ongoing since 2019. The prosecution presented six witnesses, while the primary accused, Sedina Tamakloe, was tried in absentia after fleeing to seek medical treatment abroad.

The second accused, who appeared in court, chose not to call any witnesses in their defence.