The Criminal Court 4 of the High Court in Accra has granted bail to former Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, and nine others, after partially adopting earlier bail conditions imposed by Criminal Court 3—while introducing lighter reporting requirements.

The court explained that even though prosecutors had withdrawn the previous charge sheet and replaced it with a new, expanded 54-count document, the accused persons had already complied with significant portions of the original bail terms. It therefore ruled that it would be “in the interest of justice” to retain the key conditions but tighten supervision.

Under the new directive, Dr. Abdul-Hamid, UPPF Coordinator Jacob Kwamina Amuah, and NPA staff member Wendy Newman must now report twice monthly—on the first and last Tuesday—to the Registrar of the Court instead of investigators.

The Registrar will file compliance reports with the court, and any breach will attract a bench warrant, whether the court is in session or not.

The trio remain on GHS2 million bail each with three sureties, including:

One public servant earning not less than GHS5,000 net monthly salary.

One surety who must deposit property documents.

Their passports remain held by the court.

Six other accused persons and three companies also remain on GHS2 million bail with three sureties each.

However, the required public servant surety for them must earn at least GHS3,000 net monthly salary.

They must comply with the same bi-monthly reporting schedule.

Before the bail ruling, the court took pleas from all 10 accused persons on fresh charges, including:

Extortion

Using public office for profit

Money laundering

Conspiracy to commit the offences

All pleaded not guilty.

The accused persons are:

Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid

Jacob Kwamina Amuah

Wendy Newman

Albert Ankrah

Isaac Mensah

Bright Bediako-Mensah

Kwaku Aboagye Acquaah

PropNest Ltd.

Kel Logistics Ltd.

Kings Energy Ltd.

According to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), the first three accused persons allegedly coordinated an extortion scheme between 2022 and December 2024, unlawfully collecting GHS291,574,087.19 and US$332,407 from oil marketing companies and bulk transporters.

Investigators allege that:

Dr. Abdul-Hamid led the scheme,

Amuah executed the operations, and

Newman received the funds.

The OSP says part of the money was laundered through three companies to acquire fuel stations, trucks, real estate, and land to conceal the source of the funds.

The prosecution has been ordered to file all required disclosures by January 12, 2026, and the Case Management Conference (CMC) is scheduled for January 19, 2026.

The case continues.