An alleged corrupt scandal at the Venture Capital Trust (VCTF) has caused the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) to open investigations.
According to the Daily Guide newspaper, the Development Assistance Fund (DAF) and the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created under the VCTF to give funding access to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) were allegedly used as an avenue to steal state funds.
“Currently, only about 7% of a whopping GHȻ18.26 million invested by the government between 2010 and 2015 has been recovered and GHȻ32 million was outstanding,” the newspaper reported Wednesday.
Some 205 SMEs are said to have benefitted from the DAF and SPV schemes of the VTCF and some existing and former employees, particularly the immediate past Chief Executive Officer, Daniel Kofi Duku, have been cited for directly or indirectly engaging in “fraudulent activities” during the disbursement of the DAF and SPV loans.
An internal investigative reported, according to the Daily Guide newspaper, traced the alleged fraudulent activities to the former CEO and his cronies and as a result, one Osman Suleman, on the instructions of the Board of Trustees, has invited the BNI to thoroughly look into the matter.
The Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF) in Ghana was established in 2004 through an Act of Parliament (VCTF Act 680).
The Fund was intended to provide low-cost financing to small and medium enterprises so as to enable them to expand, create wealth and jobs.
This it does by providing credit and equity financing to eligible Venture Capital Finance Companies to support SMEs and the provision of monies to support the activities and programmes for the promotion of venture capital financing as the Board may determine in consultation with the Minister.