The Office of the Special Prosecutor has welcomed the reversal of the benchmark values by the Ghana Revenue Authority which takes effect on January 01, 2023.
A statement issued by the Special Prosecutor on Thursday said the reversal of the discretionary discount on the Free on Board (FOB) value of goods and the home delivery value (HDV) of vehicles effectively shut all avenues for officers of the Customs Division to grant discretionary markdowns and removes the opportunity for corruption and corruption-related activities.
This follows various investigations and interventions at the Customs Division by the Office of the Special Prosecutor following the OSP’s investigation report in respect of a complaint against Labianca Company Limited and the Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority.
“The OSP notes with gratification, that following its various investigations and intervention at the customs division the Government has reversed the discretionary discount on the free on board (FOB) value of goods and the home delivery value (HDV) of vehicles effective 1st January 2023.
“The new policy effectively shuts all avenues for officers of the customs division to grant discretionary markdowns and removes the opportunity for corruption-related activities” excerpts of the statement read.
A major finding of the investigation, which led to the recovery of GHC1,074,627.15, is that there appears to be an institutionalized culture of light-hearted unconcern regarding the impropriety of actions at the Customs Division in respect of the grant of customs advance rulings and other rulings regarding the importation of goods – which indicates a high propensity to engender corruption and corruption-related activities.
The Special Prosecutor in its statement further noted, however, that the various investigations commenced at the Customs Division would still proceed nonetheless and the Office will monitor the implementation of the new policy.
