The state has revised the charge sheet in the criminal case involving former Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Osei Assibey Antwi, increasing the number of charges against him from 14 to 21 and updating several details of the alleged offences.

Mr. Assibey Antwi, who led the NSA between September 2021 and January 2025, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges brought against him.

A key amendment relates to the allegation of causing financial loss to the state. In the earlier charge sheet, prosecutors claimed Mr. Assibey Antwi authorised payments totalling GH¢500,861,744.02 to more than 60,000 alleged ghost national service personnel.

However, the revised charge now states that the alleged loss amounts to GH¢431,761,556.76. The prosecution also clarified that the payments were made to “non-service personnel and unverified individuals,” replacing the previous claim that they were paid to “over 60,000 ghost names.”

On the charge of abuse of office, prosecutors contend that Mr. Assibey Antwi approved personnel lists submitted to the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS) for the disbursement of monthly allowances to national service personnel.

As the principal spending officer and a signatory to NSA accounts, he is alleged to have overseen daily operations of the authority, including authorising payments to verified service personnel as well as vendors engaged under the NSA marketplace programme.

The amended charge sheet further alleges that some funds meant for service personnel were diverted into an e-zwich card registered in Mr. Assibey Antwi’s name. Prosecutors claim the card received GH¢8,256,000 between 2022 and 2024.

Investigators say the card was not declared during the official handover of office and was initially denied by the former NSA boss during questioning. It was later reportedly recovered from his residence at Dome on March 25, 2025, where evidence of personal withdrawals was also found.

Prosecutors also allege that certain payments were made to vendors under the NSA marketplace initiative for services that were never delivered. In some instances, vendors are said to have returned portions of the funds directly to Mr. Assibey Antwi in cash.

One example cited involves a payment of GH¢7,704,880.92 to Direct Savings and Loans, which prosecutors claim was made despite no services being rendered.

The amended charges also reference the Sekyere-Kumawu Economic Enclave Farm Project, where about GH¢106 million was allegedly transferred from the NSA Control Account between August 2022 and June 2024 to support the project.

Although contracts were reportedly awarded for activities such as land clearing and irrigation works, investigators claim the project did not deliver value for money, resulting in an estimated financial loss of GH¢61,289,843.30.

Other charges in the amended charge sheet include stealing, causing financial loss to the Republic, money laundering, and the alleged improper payment of public funds contrary to the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).