AESL boss charged for failing to pay GH¢1.5m in SSNIT contributions granted bail
The Director of the Architectural Engineering Services Limited (AESL), Isaac Agyei Marfo, has been granted a GH¢50, 000-bail by an Accra District Court because of the failure of the institution to pay Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) contributions for its staff.
Mr Marfo, and AESL, a state agency, were slapped with two charges – failure to pay social security contribution and failure to pay penalty on social security contributions, contrary to the pensions law.
Sections 83 (1)(d)(h) of the National Pensions Act, 2008 (Act 766) as amended by section 7 of the National Pensions (Amendment) Act, 2014 (Act 883) deals with defaulters who fail to pay SSNIT contributions for their employees.
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The SSNIT contributions for 332 staff members for the period of August 2016 to October 2019 was GHC 1, 463,752.63 and the penalty was GHC 1, 215, 912.52 resulting in total debt of GHC2.7m.
The accused pleaded guilty to the two charges and through his counsel, T. A Darteh, pleased with the court to allow him some time to pay the debt.
The Presiding judge, Efua Gyetowah Edissin, adjourned to February 15, 2020, but ordered the accused to pay 10 per cent of the debt before the next sitting date as a sign of good faith.
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According to the facts of the case, a demand letter was initially served on the accused persons notifying accused persons of their obligations to settle their indebtedness to SSNIT. However, the accused persons failed to oblige.
Consequently, the accused persons were served with criminal summons to appear before the court.
The prosecutor, Mr Fred Antwi Boasiako, of the SSNIT South Area branch said they were compelled to drag the accused to court as attempts to reach a payment plan was not fruitful.
It is the case of the prosecution that the accused and the institution have completed several government projects, but are yet to be paid with about seven months employee salary arrears.
AESL was established as an agency of the Ministry of Works and Housing to provide consultancy services in engineering and architecture to government departments, organizations, para-statal organizations, as well as individuals.
The agency undertakes survey and design of bridges, irrigation works, water supplies, sewerage systems, soils and foundation studies, as well as the testing of construction materials and the valuation and appraisal of properties.
The company is represented in 10 regions of the country and also supervises civil and other related projects, and provides quality control services to contractors, designers, and other consulting engineers.