The Managing Director of Mansel Ghana Limited, a company that deals in general merchandise was on Friday granted GH¢150 million bail by the Accra High Court for allegedly failing to pay tax.
The accused, Rami Mohammed Adnan El-Ashkar whose company is indebted to the state to the tune of GH¢332, 126, 425.88 as of July 31, 2021, pleaded not guilty to two counts of failing to pay tax.
As part of the bail condition, the accused has been ordered by court to report himself to the police on Mondays once in every three weeks.
The judge, Justice Margaret Welbourne, a Court of Appeal judge sitting with additional responsibility as a High Court judge also directed the registrar of the court to ascertain the residential address of the accused.
His co-accused, Mansel Ghana Limited, Radwan El-Ashkar and Navin Kumar were absent.
His counsel, Mr Kwaku Gyau, in moving his motion for bail told the court that his client was sick and needed urgent medical attention.
Mr Gyau said that the accused was a first time offender, had a fixed place of abode and many business interests in Ghana and would not abscond from justice if granted bail.
The prosecutor, Mr Joseph Owusu did not oppose bail but asked the court to attach conditions that ensures the accused avails himself in court.
The facts according to the prosecutor are that, in August 2018, a joint team from the Audit Service and the Post Clarence Audit Department of the Ghana Revenue Authority carried a stocktaking exercise on Mansel Ghana Limited for the period July 2012 to August 2018.
Mr Gyau said the exercise established a tax liability of GH¢197, 613, 665.57 against the accused in respect of Bonded Warehouse No. T288.
According to the prosecutor, this was a result of two infractions of the laws- that is the company taken out 735,568 bags of Brazilian white crystal rice from the Bonded Warehouse No. T288 without payment of duties and taxes due on the products that overstayed the statutory period of 12 months permitted for warehouse goods.
Mr Gyau stated that the joint team also established a tax liability of GH134, 512,760.31 in respect of Bonded Warehouse No. T205 for the period October, 2007 to August 2018.
He said the tax liability arose from two infractions in which the company took out bags of crystal sugar and skimmed milk from Bonded Warehouse No. T205 without payment of the appropriate duties and taxes and also bagged Brazilian crystal sugar, Vietnam Jasmine rice and Vietnam white rice that had overstayed the statutory period of 12 months permitted for warehouse goods.
The court heard that efforts by the GRA to including garnishment, to recover the tax liabilities of the company had not yielded any significant payment of indebtedness of the accused to the state.
Mr Gyau said demand notices were sent to the company to notify it of its obligations under the tax laws to settle the state but the accused had failed to clear the debt.
The case has been adjourned to March 18.
BY MALIK SULLEMANA
The post Court grants GH¢150m bail to Mansel MD over tax evasion appeared first on Ghanaian Times.
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