As the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigations into alleged financial impropriety at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation intensify, reasons for the probe are emerging. Investigations by the Times indicate that the SFO, among other things, is looking into a number of financial' transactions, projects and unauthorised payments by the management of the state broadcaster. For instance, the SFO is investigating the circumstance leading to the payment of huge legal fees which were not approved by the board of the corporation, Documents available to the Times indicate that although the previous board, chaired by Most Rev. Dr. Samuel Asante-Antwi, in 2007, directed discontinuation of the payment of the legal fees for Louis Darko, GBC Divisional Union Chairman, in a suit brought against him by Ms. Eva Lokko, former GBC Director-General, from the coffers of the corporation, the management continued paying the fees, the last one being GH¢3 7, 054. In the approved minutes of the board on September 12, 2007, the board noticed that GBC had paid ¢35million (or GH¢3,500) as legal fees in respect of the Eva Lokko versus Louis Darko case without recourse to the previous board. The board decided to discontinue the payment of the legal fees for Mr. Darko because the action which resulted in Ms Lokko suing him was not authorized by the corporation. But Mr. William Ampem Darko, the Director-General of GBC, who was part of the decision to stop the payment, allegedly ignored it and authorised the payment of further legal fees for Mr. Darko who was sued by Ms. Lokko for some alleged unsavory statements. According to the documents, although the board authorised discontinuation of the legal fees in 2007, the management raised a payment voucher number 002705 on February 12, 2009'to pay for a bill ofGH¢37,054 from John Opoku Chambers. According to the bill dated February 2, 2009, the fee covered legal services rendered to Mr. Darko from January 10, 2006 to December 15, 2008. An official receipt number 054 issued by John Opoku Chambers for the payment is dated March 11, 2009. Buttressing its directive for the discontinuation of the payment, the board in a memo to all board members and the Director of Finance, said that GBC could only bear the cost of litigation of an employee if it was established that that employee was performing official duties. "It is not GBC that has been sued in this particular instance but an employee. Granted that Mr. Louis Darko was acting in his capacity as GBC Divisional Union Chairman, then this bill should be directed to the Public Services Workers .Union of the TUC for settlement, and not GBC," the memo said. But all these, according to the investigations, were ignored by the management. Meanwhile, the staff of the corporation are divided over the SFO investigations. While some Ampem Darko, others are calling for his head. The SFO has directed the immediate interdiction of Mr. Ampem Darko to pave way for investigations into alleged financial impropriety at GBC. A letter from the SFO dated April 6, 2010, and addressed to the Board Chairman of GBC, requested the interdiction of Mr. Ampem Darko and three others by Friday, April 9, 2010. Source: Ghanaian Times