The High Court has dismissed an application filed by accused persons in the ongoing NPA–UPPF corruption case seeking to strike out the charges against them.
The ruling clears the way for the substantive trial to continue.
The case involves former Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Mustapha Abdul-Hamid; former Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF) Coordinator, Jacob Kwamina Amuah; NPA staff member Wendy Newman; Bright Bediako-Mensah; Kwaku Aboagye Acquaah; and three companies — Propnest Limited, Kel Logistics Limited and Kings Energy Limited.
The accused persons had asked the Court to strike out the charges, but the High Court dismissed the application as without merit.
The Republic has brought 54 charges against the accused persons, including corruption and corruption-related offences, extortion, money laundering and conspiracy to commit a crime.
According to the Republic’s case, approximately GH¢291.57 million and US$332,407 were unlawfully obtained between 2022 and December 2024 through a scheme involving officials of the NPA.
The prosecution further alleges that portions of the funds were subsequently channelled through companies linked to some of the accused persons.
The funds were allegedly used in transactions involving, among other things, land, buildings, trucks and fuel stations.
The dismissal of the application means the substantive trial will proceed.