Ghana’s Ambassador to Japan, Mr Edmund Kofi Agbenutse Deh, has been invited to explain the circumstances leading to the alleged letting out of part of a property belonging to the mission to a gang of Japanese gamblers.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Thomas Kwesi Quartey, told the Daily Graphic on Monday that the ambassador was expected to arrive in Accra yesterday.
“The Ambassador has been invited home for consultation. We need to know what went on,” he said.
Mr Quartey said Mr Deh’s predecessor, Mr William Mensah Brandful, had already been interviewed regarding his involvement in the renting of the property.
He said investigations into the letting out of the property had gone far and indicated that interviewing the current Ghana’s Ambassador to Japan on the issue would facilitate the completion of the investigations.
The deputy Foreign Affairs Minister declined to make any further comments on the investigations, insisting that any commentary would come only after the conclusion of the investigations.
Last Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration announced that it had initiated investigations into allegations that its mission in Japan was involved in an illegal gambling business which had led to the arrest of 10 Japanese.
According to media reports in Japan, the Tokyo police arrested 10 people suspected of running an illegal gambling business in a room leased in the name of Mr Brandful.
“Nine of the 10 had allegedly admitted the charges against them, but the 10th person, Hiroyuki Yamanoi, 35, had denied them,” police sources said.
The police are also said to have seized more than $100,000 in cash.
Credit: Daily Graphic