By Issah Olegor
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is facing intensified criticism following revelations of a $1.8 billion financial irregularity scandal, with a civil society organization accusing the institution of failing to take swift and decisive action against over 2000 companies implicated in tax evasion, under-invoicing, and money laundering.
The controversy erupted when the Movement for Truth and Accountability (MTA), a civil society group, organized a press conference to decry what it called the GRA’s “institutional inertia.”
The group accused the GRA and other state agencies of negligence in pursuing companies involved in manipulating Import Declaration Forms (IDFs) to siphon billions of dollars out of the country unlawfully.
Media outlets quickly picked up the story, amplifying public outrage over potential losses to the national treasury and weaknesses in Ghana’s fiscal oversight mechanisms.
Responding to the public uproar, the GRA issued a media statement on April 8, 2021, rejecting claims that it had been inactive or complicit.
The Authority emphasized that it had initiated a comprehensive multi-agency investigation as far back as 2020, after detecting alarming irregularities involving the misuse of IDFs — official documents issued by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to record details of imported goods and ensure the legal transfer of funds through licensed banks.
According to the GRA, preliminary investigations revealed systemic abuse of the IDF process.
A reconciliation exercise comparing commercial bank records and Customs data for 2019 uncovered around 10,000 unreconciled documents linked to over 2,000 companies.
Later, the GRA clarified that the actual number of companies implicated had been revised down to approximately 1,300 after deeper vetting.
Among the serious infractions uncovered were cases where importers used different IDFs to access foreign currency than those presented at Customs; under-invoicing of goods to evade taxes; multiple imports funded by single foreign currency transfers to obscure transaction trails; illegal foreign currency transfers through forex bureaus and informal operators; and complicity by certain bank officials who facilitated unauthorized transactions for non-importers.
Faced with the sheer scale of the suspected malpractice, the GRA formed a multi-agency task force comprising representatives from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), and the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO).
The task force was tasked with tightening controls around IDFs and the transfer of funds related to imports.
Despite these efforts, public skepticism remains high. A notable development occurred when Joseph Bediako, converner of the Movement for Truth and Accountability, filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2019 (Act 989), seeking detailed updates on the investigations.
Dissatisfied with the FIC’s refusal to grant access to the requested information, Mr. Bediako escalated the matter to the Right to Information Commission.
In a letter dated February 5, 2025, the Commission, through its immediate past Executive Secretary, Yaw Sarpong, directed the FIC to respond within seven days and justify its denial of access.
The Commission cited Sections 43(2)(b) and 70 of the RTI Act, which empower it to compel institutions to assist investigations and to review refusals of information disclosure.
It warned that failure to comply would result in the case being determined based on available information.
The information requested by Bediako included the status and findings of investigations initiated in December 2020 into the alleged money laundering activities and the financial misconduct of the accused companies.
As at now no official response had been issued by the FIC.
