Francis Robert Ayitey, former Chief Treasury Officer attached to the Ministry of Finance, has been arraigned before an Accra Fast Track High Court for allegedly causing financial loss to the State to the tune of GHc313,600. The accused person was said to have forged official documents belonging to his superiors and other colleagues and used it for an order for 900,000 vehicle registration certificates for a company called Malpress Commercial Printing and Stationery Supplies. He pleaded not guilty to one count of causing financial loss to the State and eight counts of forgery of official documents, in a court presided over by Justice Charles Quist, while his alleged accomplice, Mr. Ham Lutterodt is at large. Ayitey has been granted a GHc200,000 bail with two sureties to be justified and with the sureties having title deeds of landed properties situated in Accra. Presenting the facts of the case, the State Attorney, Mr. William Kpobi, told the court that the accused person was a chief accountant with the Controller and Accountant General's Department in Accra who was transferred to the Ministry of Finance Treasury Office in 2006. According to Mr. Kpobi, while there, he managed to forge a lot of official documents belonging to the Accountant General and the signature of government officials like Dr. Anthony Osei Akoto, the former Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning. The prosecuting attorney stated that he used the forged documents to prepare a payment voucher to the tune of GHc313,600 payable to a private printing press called Malpress, said to be a stationery company, for the supply of 900,000 pieces of vehicles registration certificates. In addition, he said the said accomplice, Lutterodt and the accused person opened a bank account at the Kpone Rural Bank at Kpone and deposited all the money in it while his accomplice managed to withdraw GHc100,000.00 from the account. Counsel for the accused person, Agbesi Dzakpasu, asked for bail for his client and said he had been granted bail by a Circuit Court and would always make himself available to the court as and when needed. According to counsel, he had not stolen any money as being charged; unlike his accomplice who is wanted for stealing, so the job was up to the prosecution to prove beyond all reasonable doubts that his client was indeed guilty of the offence for which he had been hauled before the court. The trial judge upheld his submission and granted the accused person bail. Source: Daily Guide