THE REPUBLIC vs. HIGH COURT (FINANCIAL DIVISION) ACCRA EX-PARTE: XENON INVESTMENT CO. LTD FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE CENTRE [2016]DLSC5623

THE REPUBLIC vs. HIGH COURT (FINANCIAL DIVISION) ACCRA EX-PARTE: XENON INVESTMEN... [2016]DLSC5623

Date	2016-03-22
Suit No.	CIVIL MOTION NO: J5/46/2015
Citation No.	[2016]DLSC5623

ANIN YEBOAH JSC (PRESIDING)

BAFFOE - BONNIE JSC

AKOTO – BAMFO (MRS) JSC

BENIN JSC

AKAMBA JSC

ALEXANDER AFENYO MARKIN ESQ. WITH HIM KORKOR OKUTU FOR THE APPLICANT

ARTHUR CHAMBERS ESQ. FOR THE INTERESTED PARTY.

[2016]DLSC5623
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >THE REPUBLIC<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>HIGH COURT (FINANCIAL
DIVISION) ACCRA<o:p></o:p>EX-PARTE: XENON
INVESTMENT CO. LTD<o:p></o:p>(APPLICANT)<o:p></o:p>FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE
CENTRE<o:p></o:p>(INTERESTED PARTY)<o:p></o:p>[SUPREME COURT, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

CIVIL MOTION NO: J5/46/2015&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;DATE: 22ND MARCH, 2016<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:<o:p></o:p>ALEXANDER AFENYO MARKIN ESQ. WITH HIM KORKOR OKUTU FOR
THE APPLICANT<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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ARTHUR CHAMBERS ESQ. FOR THE INTERESTED PARTY.<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM: <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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RULING<o:p></o:p>

</div>ANIN
YEBOAH JSC:-<o:p></o:p>The applicant herein has invoked our supervisory
jurisdiction to quash a ruling of an Accra High Court, [Financial Division],
dated the 1st of June 2015.&nbsp;
The uncontroverted facts of this application appear to be very
simple.&nbsp; The applicant is a limited
liability company operating in this country.&nbsp;
It operated three accounts at the Tower branch of Fidelity Bank, Ghana
Limited. On 27/02/2014, the interested party herein (The Financial Intelligence
Centre), in a letter, directed the applicant’s bank to freeze all the accounts
of the applicant. <o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>As the interested party is statutorily conferred
with such authority, the bank complied to freeze all the three accounts of the
applicant.&nbsp; According to the interested
party, in an affidavit sworn to by one Mary Shireen Ofosu, an analyst of the
Financial Intelligence Centre, the applicant on 20/02/2014 received an amount
of US$43,569.45 from one Sue Batth-Tait in Canada.&nbsp; Prior to the 20/02/2014 the same Sue Batth-Tait
had remitted the applicant US$33,999.00.&nbsp;
The interested party’s officials questioned two directors of the
applicant’s company; namely: DAVID OMARI and ISAAC BOATENG who according to the
officials of the interested party could not provide credible information for
the remittances and they therefore suspected the applicant company of money laundering.
After the freezing order initiated by the interested party herein on 4/03/2014,
it applied for and successfully obtained from the High Court, [Financial
Division] Accra, a confirmation order freezing all the three accounts of the
applicant in an ex parte application.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Not comfortable with the freezing of its accounts,
the applicant company on 27/08/2014 filed a motion praying the court to set
aside the freezing order granted against them.&nbsp;
This application to defreeze the accounts was struck out for want of
prosecution on 5/09/2014. Later, on 9/04/15, the applicant filed an application
praying the same court to defreeze the accounts frozen by the same court on 5/03/2014,
which was clearly over one year.&nbsp; The
interested party herein opposed the application.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>It did not file any comprehensive affidavit in
answer to the motion but learned counsel made it clear to the learned judge
that he would rely on the affidavit in answer filed earlier on in the motion
which was struck out for want of prosecution on 5/09/2014. We shall consider
this point later in this delivery.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>In the course of hearing the application, the
learned High Court Judge suo motu requested one Isaac Boateng, a director of
the applicant com</main>