By:brightwebtv.com/Nana asare barimah
An Accra High Court has ordered the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to return Cecilia Dapaah’s seized funds to her within 72 hours.
This follows an application by the OSP to confirm the freezing and seizure orders regarding the bank accounts and assets at the former Minister’s home.
At a press conference, the Special Prosecutor indicated that the case will be continued by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).
The Special Prosecutor has dropped the application to confirm the seizure and the freezing of the monies and bank accounts of Cecilia Dapaah.
The office has also dropped a criminal trial instigated against the former sanitation minister for failure to declare her assets.
This decision was taken after a series of in-chamber hearings on the matter. The Special Prosecutor for months now has had in its custody monies of Cecilia Dapaah seized when her house was searched as part of the investigations.
The office also froze some bank accounts of Cecilia Dapaah for allegedly being tainted with corruption and corruption-related activities.
Attempts by Cecilia Dapaah to get the OSP to move an application to confirm or deny the action have suffered delays. First as a result of an appeal filed at the court of appeal on an earlier ruling denying the first application to confirm the properties and a certiorari application on a decision to abridge the time for hearing of the instant application.
After that, the Judge presiding over the case had to go for leave and a new judge was appointed to preside over the case.
The case has since been held in chambers after the first hearing in open court. But after a hearing in chambers on Thursday, January 25, sources close to the legal teams revealed that the office of the Special Prosecutor has decided to withdraw the case against Cecilia Dapaah.
The reason for the withdrawal is not yet known, but the Judge according to Citi News sources has given the OSP 72 hours to release the properties to Cecilia Dapaah.