OSP charges Mustapha Hamid, 9 others in GHC280m scandal
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has initiated legal action against former Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, along with six others, for allegedly conspiring to extort an amount of GH¢280.51 million from bulk oil transporters and oil marketing companies (OMCs).
The charges, filed on July 16, 2025, at the Criminal Division of the High Court in Accra, claim that Dr. Abdul-Hamid, who also served as Chairman of the Unified Petroleum Pricing Management Committee under the NPA, teamed up with Jacob Kwamina Amuah, the fund’s coordinator, to unlawfully gain a substantial amount from the OMCs.
The ten accused, three of whom are companies, face a total of 25 counts, which include conspiracy to extort money by a public officer, extortion by a public officer, utilising public office for personal profit, conspiracy to launder money, and a principal charge of money laundering.
They are set to appear in court at a later date to enter their pleas regarding the charges against them.
The OSP’s allegations reveal that between 2022 and December 2024, Dr. Abdul-Hamid, Amuah, and Wendy Newman, a member of the NPA’s audit department, devised a scheme aimed at extorting GH¢280.51 million from the bulk oil transporters and OMCs.
According to the OSP, the plan was initiated by Dr. Abdul-Hamid, who allegedly proposed the idea to Amuah. Newman was subsequently brought on board as the key individual to manage the proceeds from the alleged criminal activities.
Amuah is reported to have transferred GH¢24 million to Abdul-Hamid between January 2024 and December 2024, which the OSP claims were derived from this extortion scheme.
From the total of GH¢280.51 million amassed by Dr. Abdul-Hamid, Amuah, and Newman, the OSP asserts that GH¢227.23 million was funnelled through Newman, who purportedly allocated the funds as directed by Amuah.
Joining them in the proceedings are directors of the real estate firm Propnest Limited, Albert Ankrah and Isaac Mensah, along with the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Bright Bediako-Mensah, who are accused of assisting the three in laundering money.
Also facing charges is Kwaku Aboagye Acquah, a Director at Kel Logistics Limited, alongside his company, for conspiring with the others to launder money.
Furthermore, Osei Tutu Adjei, the Director of Kings Logistics Limited, is currently in hiding, but his company has been implicated in the criminal case.
According to the OSP, investigations revealed that Ankrah, Mensah, Bediako-Mensah and Acquah, as well as Adjei, with the complicity of Amuah and Newman, established and ran the three companies with which they proceeded to unlawfully launder the proceeds of the alleged criminal adventure of the top three accused persons through various transfers for the acquisition of movable and immovable property.
That was to conceal or disguise the illicit origin of the proceeds of the criminal enterprise and to evade the legal consequences of the unlawful activity, the charges averred.
“Amuah and Newman transferred various sums of money directly to the companies and funded the purchase and construction of houses, the purchase of trucks for oil distribution business, and the construction of fuel filling stations,” the OSP stated in the charge sheet.
Find the full statement below.
