Justice Paul Uuter Dery, one of the High Court judges involved in the judicial scandal, has dragged investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas to court over illegal operations.
The writ dated Monday, October 31, also cited the Attorney General (AG) as the second defendant.
Justice Dery was part of 34 judges exposed in a bribery scandal made public by Anas.
The exposed judges include 22 magistrates and 12 High Court judges. Anas’ two-year investigative work captured them on video taking bribe to pervert justice.
About 20 of them have been sacked in connection with the exposé.
However, Justice Dery contends that Anas has continually breached the laws of Ghana and the AG has failed in her duty to let him face the full rigours of the law.
The plaintiff (Justice Dery) avers that among the companies that the first defendant (Anas) claims to have incorporated include Tiger Eye PI; Tiger Eye PI Media Limited; Tiger Consult Limited; and Stallion Tiger Company Limited.
But Justice Dery maintains that “these companies that the 1st defendant claims to have incorporated are just a scam that the latter employs as a vehicle to defraud the state and other private institutions”.
The plaintiff avers that under the banner of one of these “scam companies” of the 1st Defendant, Tiger Eye PI, the 1st Defendant purportedly conducted private investigations into various public institutions including the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, the Electricity Company of Ghana, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, COCOBOD, and the Judicial Service.
“Some of these alleged companies of the 1st Defendant either do not exist at all or exist only on paper without complying with mandatory legal provisions,” Justice Dery averred.
The plaintiff also added that Anas “by his illegal activities has defrauded the state by way of monies illegally paid to him from the illegal contracts he entered into with the state and state institutions by the use of his dummy corporations”.
Additionally, the plaintiff argued that “Anas has defrauded the state in taxes that he evaded by his illegal operations”.
He is, therefore, seeking the following reliefs:
1. A declaration that the 1st Defendant, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, breached his duty as a citizen of Ghana to uphold and defend the Constitution and the laws of Ghana pursuant to Article 41(b) of the 1992 Constitution when under the guise of a non-existent company, he illegally and purportedly conducted private investigations into various public institutions including the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority; the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority; the Electricity Company of Ghana; Cocobod; and the Judicial Service.
2. A declaration that the 1st Defendant, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, breached his duty as a citizen of Ghana to uphold and defend the Constitution and the laws of Ghana pursuant to Article 41(b) of the 1992 Constitution when under the guise of a non – existent company, he illegally and purportedly conducted private investigations by which he engaged employees without paying their social security contributions to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust as required by law.
3. A declaration that the 1st Defendant, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, breached his duty as a citizen of Ghana to respect the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of other citizens of Ghana pursuant to Article 41(d) of the 1992 Constitution when under the guise of a non – existent company, he invaded the privacy of Judges and staff of the Judicial Service in violation of their fundamental human rights to privacy guaranteed under Article 18(2) of the 1992 Constitution and various provisions of international human rights instruments.
4. A declaration that the 1st Defendant, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, breached his duty as a citizen of Ghana to protect and preserve public property pursuant to Article 41(f) of the 1992 Constitution when under the guise of a non – existent company, he illegally carried out private investigations into various public institutions including the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority; the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority; the Electricity Company of Ghana; Cocobod; and the Judicial Service for private gain and fame.
5. A declaration that the 1st Defendant, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, breached his duty to honestly declare his income to the appropriate and lawful agencies of the State and to satisfy all his tax obligations pursuant to Article 41(j) of the 1992 Constitution when under the guise of a non – existent company he illegally carried out private investigations for his personal profits, into various public institutions including the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority; the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority; the Electricity Company of Ghana; Cocobod; and the Judicial Service; without honestly declaring his income to the appropriate lawful agencies of State and without satisfying all his tax obligations to the State.
6. A declaration that the 1st Defendant acted in violation of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) when he used a dummy and non-existent company to procure contracts from the State in his illegal private investigations.
7. A declaration that the 2nd Defendant, the Attorney General, breached her duty to take all requisite legal steps to enforce the criminal laws of Ghana pursuant to Article 88(1), (3) and (4) of the 1992 Constitution by failing to cause an investigation to be conducted into the criminal activities of the 1st Defendant, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, for purposes of initiating and conducting the prosecution of the latter for violations of various penal statutes of Ghana.
8. A declaration that the 2nd Defendant, the Attorney General, breached her duty to take all requisite legal steps to enforce the laws of Ghana pursuant to Article 88(1) & (5) of the 1992 Constitution by failing to institute and conduct civil proceedings on behalf of the State to recover all public funds that the 1st Defendant, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, illegally acquired from the State from his criminal activities.
9. An order directed at the 1st Defendant, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, to account to the State for all monies that he illegally acquired from the State arising out of his criminal activities.
10. An order directed at the 2nd Defendant, the Attorney General, to take all necessary steps to recover all monies that the 1st Defendant, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, illegally acquired from the State through his criminal activities.
11. An order directed at the 1st Defendant, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, to pay all the expenses including legal fees incidental to the institution and prosecution of this action.
12. Any other order(s) that the High Court may deem fit to make to make.
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