The Telegraph, a UK-based newspaper, has published a story that states that the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II is alleged to have laundered \u00a3200,000 and $200,000 in cash.
\nThis comes about after a bank official, Mark Arthur, lost his job because according to the Ghana International Bank, he \u201cfailed to follow anti-money laundering rules and had violated security policies as he was only insured to carry cash by armoured car up to a maximum of \u00a3250,000.\u201d
\nThe issue was brought to light during a tribunal hearing to determine whether the dismissal of Mr Arthur was legal.<\/p>\n
Below is the full story published by The Telegraph: We anticipate the outcome of this hearing in order to ascertain the veracity of these claims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Telegraph, a UK-based newspaper, has published a story that states that the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II is alleged to have laundered \u00a3200,000 and $200,000 in cash. This comes about after a bank official, Mark Arthur, lost his job because according to the Ghana International Bank, he \u201cfailed to follow anti-money laundering rules and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6037,"featured_media":1722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4315,4314],"class_list":["post-1721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-money-laundering","tag-otumfuo-osei-tutu-ii"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n\u2018The King of Ghana gave me \u00a3350,000 and I took it to the bank in taxi,\u2019 sacked bank official claims<\/em>
\nTo a Ghanaian King, handing someone a holdall stuffed with more than \u00a3350,000 to deposit in a bank might seem nothing out of the ordinary.<\/em>
\nIndeed, when Osei Tutu II, traditional ruler of the Kingdom of Ashanti, summoned Mark Arthur to his multimillion-pound residence in Henley-on-Thames and handed him a bag containing almost \u00a3200,000 in sterling as well as $200,000 in US currency with consecutive serial numbers, the bank official felt it inappropriate to ask too many questions.<\/em>
\nHowever, the subsequent deposit of the cash at Ghana International Bank triggered a money laundering alert in the City of London and cost Mr Arthur his job.<\/em>
\nThe King, who once worked at Brent council, summoned Mr Arthur, the bank\u2019s second most senior executive, to his home in August last year.<\/em>
\nMr Arthur, from New Barnet, Hertfordshire, a dual citizen of the UK and Ghana, drove to his own home with the cash and then took it in an Uber taxi to the bank\u2019s City offices for deposit in the king\u2019s account, he told an employment tribunal.<\/em>
\nOsei Tutu II, the holder of a diplomatic passport, told him the cash had been withdrawn from banks in Ghana and brought to the UK, he said in his witness statement.<\/em>
\nHe had also instructed Mr Arthur to move $200,000 to an account at Standard bank in Jersey.<\/em>
\nMr Arthur, a member of the Ashanti tribe, the largest in Ghana, carried out the transfer within hours, the tribunal heard.<\/em>
\nHe was suspended and then sacked following the incident, after an investigation by outside accountants Grant Thornton. He is claiming wrongful dismissal, unfair dismissal and failure to protect a whistleblower.<\/em>
\nThe bank said he had failed to follow anti-money laundering rules and had violated security policies as it was only insured to carry cash by armoured car up to a maximum of \u00a3250,000.<\/em>
\nMr Arthur, an executive director of the bank, alleged the deposit and transfer were approved by Ghana International Bank\u2019s chief executive, Joseph Mensah.<\/em>
\nMr Mensah told an outside reviewer of Mr Arthur\u2019s dismissal he \u201cdidn\u2019t even have the authority to sanction such a huge amount\u201d.<\/em>
\nOsei Tutu II is estimated to be Africa\u2019s 10th richest monarch, with valuable goldmine and cocoa plantations and remains one of the most influential traditional figures in Ghana.<\/em>
\nIn his witness statement, Mr Arthur said he was not able to follow anti-money laundering rules when he accepted the cash because of the king’s status.<\/em>
\nHe said: \u201cWithout a policy to follow and did without wishing to offend a sovereign of my country, I found myself in a very difficult situation and one I had never been in before.<\/em>
\n\u201cI could not carry out the necessary due diligence by talking to His Majesty so decided it would be best to verify the deposits at the bank and to speak directly to Mr Mensah rather than disrespect His Majesty in a face-to-face meeting.\u201d<\/em>
\nThe day after the bank accepted the cash and made the transfer to Jersey, it reported the transactions to the National Crime Agency as suspicious.<\/em>
\nNews of Mr Arthur\u2019s suspension was subsequently passed to the City watchdogs the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA sent inspectors into the bank who severely criticised its handling of cash, the tribunal heard.<\/em>
\nLawyers for Mr Arthur argued that his handling of the deposit was in line with the way the bank previously handled Osei Tutu II\u2019s account and that he was aware that the king could travel on a diplomatic passport.<\/em>
\nThey cited a string of large cash deposits in 2013 and 2014 where the source of the funds was not properly recorded.<\/em>
\nThey included a $100,000 that a review of the king\u2019s account said came from a fundraising event. There were no documents recording the source of that cash, however.<\/em>
\nColin Millar, a building society chairman drafted in by Ghana International Bank to adjudicate on Mr Arthur\u2019s appeal against his dismissal, rejected suggestions that the \u00a3350,000 holdall was acceptable given the king\u2019s history with the bank.<\/em>
\nHe told the tribunal the deposit and swift transfer offshore was a \u201cclassic\u201d warning sign of money laundering.<\/em>
\nMr Millar told the hearing: \u201cIf you want to hide the sources of funds that are from a disreputable source then you move them around until it reaches the point where the authorities can\u2019t trace them back to their original source. That\u2019s a way of hiding the proceeds of crime.\u201d<\/em>
\nThe hearing continues.<\/em><\/p>\n