Former MASLOC Boss Faces Trial In Absentia

Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, who was the counsel for former Chief Executive Officer of Microfinance and Small Loans Centre(MASLOC), has filed an operation to stay the trial in her absence.

On February 24, 2023, Accra High Court granted an application to conduct the case in her absence after she fled to the United States (US) in 2021 and has since refused to return for the trial to take place.

This happened after the court presided over by Justice Afia Serwah Asare- Botwe, a Justie of the Court of Appeal sitting as additional High Court judge, had preliminarily held that the accuse had absonded and latterly ordered her two sureties, Alex Mould and Gavivina Tamakloe to lose the bail bond and pay the GH¢ 5 million bail sum.

Meanwhile, her lawyer, Agbesi Dzakpasu, has filed an application for stay of the proceedings in the trial. The application could, still, not be moved because the return date on it was on 4th May, and the Office of the Attorney General was yet to be served.

The court latterly postponed the case to 4th May, 2023 so as to determine the application

Meanwhile, the counsel for Daniel Axim who has been charged alongside Ms. Attionu couldn’t proceed the cross-examination of the prosecutions of the last witness as Mr. Dzakpasu raised an objection to the timing regarded to the processes.

According to Mr. Dzakpasu, the 21 – day period given by the court to publish the order for the trial of his client in absentia hadn’t ceased, hence the court couldn’t continue with the case.

Upon checks by DAILY GUIDE, it was verified that the order was published in the Daily Graphic newspaper on 3rd April, 2023 and the 21- day period will end on 24th April, 2023.

TRIAL IN ABSENTIA

The Office of the Attorney General filed the motion even before the court urge it to conduct the trial in the absence of the indicted, who’s facing trial for allegedly causing fiscal loss to the state after she failed to come back to the country following the release of her passport to her to travel to United States (US) to undertake medical checkup

Ms. Attionu and Daniel Axim are now facing 78 counts of charges which includes the conspiracy to steal, stealing, an unauthorized commitment which results in a financial obligation for the government, improper payment, money laundering and violation of the Public Procurement Act.

The prosecution had called seven witnesses and counsel for Daniel Axim was only left with an hour to complete his cross-examination for the prosecution to close its case.

Attionu’s lawyer still, transferred a letter to the court asking it to release her passport for her to travel for her medical checkup. The court presided over by Justice Asare- Botwe also granted the request and ordered her to return to court on 5th October, 2021.

Nonetheless, she still failed to meet the request on the date to return to the court. and the court Again, the court issued a warrant for her arrest and latterly adjourned the matter to 16th of November 2021. She has still not returned to stand trial.