Mustapha Hamid,nine others arraigned over alleged GH¢291m corruption charges

Former Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, and nine other individuals and companies have been arraigned before the High Court in Accra on a consolidated charge sheet outlining what prosecutors describe as a large-scale extortion and money-laundering operation in the petroleum downstream sector.

The accused appeared on Tuesday, 9 December, before Criminal Court 4 to answer 54 counts in total, including Extortion, Using Public Office for Profit, Money Laundering and Conspiracy. All ten pleaded not guilty.

According to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), the case is the outcome of an extended investigation into an alleged extortion network said to have operated between 2022 and 2024.

Prosecutors contend that the first three accused, described as key NPA officials during the period, abused their regulatory authority to extract substantial payments from Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and petroleum transporters.

The charge sheet puts the alleged illegal takings at more than a quarter of a billion cedis, comprising:

Over GH¢291 million, and

US$332,000

On recent exchange rates, the OSP says the suspected scheme is valued at well over US$24.5m, underscoring what it characterises as a significant financial crime within a strategically important national industry.

The prosecution further alleges that portions of the funds were channelled through three companies linked to some of the accused in order to disguise their origin.

These entities are said to have been used as vehicles to convert the proceeds into high-value assets, including:

Land and residential properties

Fuel service stations

Haulage trucks for petroleum transport

The OSP maintains that this asset build-up was designed to entrench control in the sector while obscuring the money trail.

As part of its broader investigation, the OSP had earlier moved to freeze more than GH¢100 million in bank accounts and assets believed to be connected to the alleged enterprise, to prevent what it described as dissipation of suspected illicit wealth.

The National Petroleum Authority, created under the NPA Act, 2005 (Act 691), is responsible for licensing, oversight, pricing and quality assurance across the petroleum downstream industry.

In court, the OSP indicated it will seek to demonstrate that the regulatory powers vested in the accused, and particularly the then Chief Executive, were corruptly leveraged for private gain, rather than exercised solely in the public interest.

On bail, the High Court largely maintained the core terms earlier set by Criminal Court 3, but added a new reporting condition. All accused persons are now required to report to the court’s Registrar on the first and last Tuesday of every month.

The court has directed the OSP to complete and file all mandatory disclosures – including witness statements and documentary evidence – by 12 January 2026, to enable the defence teams to prepare.

A Case Management Conference (CMC) has been scheduled to structure the timetable for hearings and streamline the issues for trial.

The commencement of proceedings is being seen as a pivotal moment for the OSP, as it tries to demonstrate its operational capacity to confront alleged systemic corruption in key sectors of the Ghanaian economy, starting with the petroleum downstream industry.