Deputy Attorney General Dr. Justice Srem-Sai has said about 30 cases have been indentified for prosecution under the government’s Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative for prosecution, with between five and 10 already at advanced stages before the courts.
Speaking in a media interview, Dr. Srem-Si said the cases were selected after a review of investigation dockets submitted to the Attorney General’s Office.
“When we analyzed the report, I think we had about 30 cases that we thought were prosecutable,” he said.
He explained that while some of the identified cases are already progressing through the courts, others are ready to be filed as prosecutors continue to assess evidence
According to him, prosecutors are preparing to file another batch of ORAL-related cases during the legal vacation before the commencement of the new legal year in October.
“We have other dockets already. But we are going to start with them, either during the vacation, the legal vacation; we are going to start new cases,” he added.
Dr. Srem-Sai stressed that the Attorney General’s Office remains committed to pursuing all ORAL cases that satisfy the required legal standard.
He also hinted that additional high-profile prosecutions could soon be announced but declined to reveal the identities of individuals who may be affected.
“The focus is not on how prominent a case is, but whether the available evidence supports prosecution,” he said.
On the ongoing SkyTrain trial, Dr. Srem-Sai said the prosecution had concluded presenting its case and was awaiting the next stage of proceedings after the accused persons failed to submit their witness statements within the timeline set by the court.
Providing an update on the case involving former National Signals Bureau Director-General Kwabena Adu-Boahene, the Deputy Attorney General said the prosecution was nearing the close of its case.
He said the prosecution’s fourth witness was still testifying and was expected to complete evidence either this week or next week
“Our fourth witness is in the box and we hope that by this week or next week, he will have been discharged. When that happens…we have closed our case,” the Deputy Minister said.
Dr. Srem-Sai also addressed investigations arising from the report on illegal mining submitted by Environment Minister Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.
He said although investigators had submitted reports to the Attorney General’s Office, further investigations had been ordered to address gaps in the evidence before any decision was taken on possible prosecutions.
According to him, investigators are routinely directed to gather additional evidence whenever the Attorney General’s Office identifies deficiencies in the material submitted.
“The investigators bring the first report. We look at it, we find gaps. We ask them to fill the gaps and then bring them back until we are certain that we have filled all the gaps. Then we take the step to go and prosecute,” he said.
