A radio newscaster, Naa Atswei Oduro, who came into the media spotlight through Accra100. 5FM, has duped her former employer with a tactful scheme and has absconded with huge sums of money.
The newscaster, who is now involved with another radio station, also diverted monies paid for advertisements into her own personal accounts and issued a dud cheque to the former employers, when confronted.
The money involved is more than GHS50,000 and includes revenue from advertisements.
By that act, Naa Atswei, who was seen as one of the voices that earned some appreciable level of respect on the airwaves through Accra100.5 FM, has moved from giving the news to making the news, albeit for the wrong reasons.
Information available to us indicate that it took an audit to detect her nefarious activities, which, from the evidence, revealed a calculated plan by the female broadcaster to redirect money meant for the radio station into her personal accounts for private use.
Impeccable information available to this medium show that following the outcome of the audit, the management of her former employers have now initiated the necessary processes to recoup the money and file criminal charges against Naa Atswei.
She is said to have admitted to the offence after she was confronted, according to our sources but issued a cheque that could not be cashed as part-payment of the money she illegally pocketed.
Also known as Nana Asantewaa Oduro, Naa Atswei was a loved voice on Accra 100.5FM until July this year, when she quit, apparently after it became obvious that her cup was becoming full.
The highly-placed sources say the money in question was revenue from a project that the station was carrying out as well as from other sources.
The sources say after noticing that the money could not be accounted for, management of the station initiated an audit, which later revealed that all those payments were done illegally into Naa Atswei Oduro’s purse.
They added that when she was confronted on the detected fraud, Naa Atswei admitted to the crime but agreed to refund the money.
She is alleged to have written a cheque that covers part of the amount, a cheque that could not be cashed when taken to the bank.
It also raises questions over how she intends to settle the remainder.
Our information show that beyond pocketing company funds illegally, Naa Atswei also used her offer from her current employers to blackmail the former employers into offering her an enhanced package, which she enjoyed but quit nonetheless.
Additional information also reveal that she had been caught in other inappropriate activities that do not speak well of her as a lady while working for her former employers.
In her response, Oduro called the bluff of management of Accra FM, challenging them to seek “legal action if they want.”
“If the company feels I’ve stolen or ran away with their money the law court is there and the police is there and I am in Accra, they can take me there… there was a contract between me and them and I was given GhC50, 000 to buy a car just to let me stay. I even added GhC20, 000 to that amount to buy the car, amounting to GhC70k. After I bought the car I stayed there for close to a month but when I realized things were not working the way I want I decided to leave. All I’m saying is they should have patience for someone to buy the car then they can refund my GhC20, 000 and take the rest.
“They can take legal action if they think I’ve stolen their money… the part about me diverting advert payments into my personal accounts are all lies. I’m even surprised about their position. I think because I left them it didn’t go down with them but they should have patience. All those money they claimed I diverted are my commission on adverts so how do you come back and accuse me of stealing?” Oduro, who now works with Angel FM asked.