Former NAFCO boss and wife face fresh charges over alleged financial losses

Former Chief Executive Officer of the National Food and Buffer Stock Company, Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba, and his wife, Faiza Seidu Wuni, are facing fresh criminal charges at the High Court in Accra.

The new charge sheet was filed by the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice on May 15, 2026.

It contains 20 counts against the couple, including stealing, defrauding by false pretences, wilfully causing financial loss to the state, abuse of public office for profit, dishonestly receiving and money laundering.

The filing follows the re-arrest of Mr Aludiba and his wife by the Economic and Organised Crime Office shortly after they were discharged by the High Court in an earlier case.

According to the prosecution, one of the allegations concerns a GH¢734,400 payment, said to be the cedi equivalent of US$127,500.

The state claims Mr Aludiba fraudulently obtained the money from NAFCO in 2017 by presenting it as rent covering the period from May 2017 to May 2019.

Prosecutors say the representation was false and amounted to defrauding by false pretence.

They also allege that the same transaction caused financial loss to the state.

A major part of the charge sheet focuses on payments allegedly made through Sawtina Enterprise.

The prosecution says that between February 2017 and February 2025, Mr Aludiba, while serving as NAFCO CEO, allegedly diverted about GH¢50.8 million from the company.

The payments were allegedly made under the guise of foodstuff purchases from one James Tieku-Apawu, trading as Sawtina Enterprise.

The state claims the transactions amounted to stealing and abuse of public office for private benefit.

It further alleges that the payments caused substantial financial loss to NAFCO.

The charge sheet also accuses Mr Aludiba of directing NAFCO funds to Alqarni Enterprise, a business prosecutors say belonged to his wife.

According to the state, more than GH¢3.34 million was paid to the enterprise between September 2018 and August 2019 for alleged food supply transactions.

Prosecutors say those transactions were fraudulent and formed part of the alleged theft and abuse of office.

Mrs Wuni is facing separate charges of defrauding by false pretence, dishonestly receiving and money laundering.

The state alleges that she falsely represented that her business had supplied food items to NAFCO, leading the company to release more than GH¢3.34 million.

She is also accused of knowingly receiving and possessing funds allegedly obtained through unlawful means.

The money laundering charge, brought under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020, Act 1044, alleges that she took possession of the funds while knowing they had been acquired through stealing.

The case has already drawn public attention after defence lawyers criticised the manner in which the couple were re-arrested.

Former Attorney-General Godfred Yeboah Dame, who represents Mr Aludiba, earlier accused EOCO of denying the accused persons access to their lawyers and refusing them bail despite existing court processes.

He also described the prosecution’s handling of the matter as an abuse of prosecutorial discretion and alleged that his clients had suffered “pre-trial torture and harassment”.

NAFCO was established to support food security and stabilise agricultural commodity prices.

The company has in recent years faced scrutiny over procurement, storage and financial management practices.

The case is expected to return to court in the coming days for prosecutors to move the new charges formally.