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The authorities at the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) has left off the hook, a criminal gang masquerading as revenue collectors, who have over the years stolen millions of cedis from the coffers of the assembly. The development contradicts the Criminal Code of 1960 (Act 29), which lists fraud as one of the criminal offences. The revenue collectors, The Chronicle understands, were issuing receipts to clients of the assembly which face value was less than the actual money paid by the clients. With this criminal conduct, they denied the assembly revenue due it, to execute development projects in the metropolis. The STMA has the capacity to generate GHc2.7 million quarterly but the greater part of this money lands in the private pockets of some of these revenue collectors. The fraudulent conduct was exposed recently when they (revenue collectors) went and locked up shops of artisans at Kokompe for the non-payment of annual property rates. The decision compelled the artisans to pay the money the revenue collectors were demanding. Surprisingly when the receipts covering the payment were issued to them, the artisans realized that the amount written on it was less than the actual fees they paid. Mr. GodwillAbakah, a former defeated Parliamentary Candidate for the Takoradi Constituency, who was mad over the development, led the artisans to lodge an official complaint at the Takoradi Sub metro of the STMA. Mr. Abakah, who later spoke to The Chronicle, explained that he had a pile of such fraudulent receipts issued by the revenue collectors over the years. According to Abakah, when he reported the case to the STMA Coordinating Director, the latter reportedly promised to set up a committee to investigate the issue. The Chronicle can independently confirm that a three member Committee, with AlhajiIshaqAsuru, Coordinating Director, Mr. KurkKwofie, Metro Finance Officer and Mr. James Amuesi, the Head of Revenue Mobilization was constituted to investigate the revenue collectors. The revenue collectors, who were perpetrating the crime, reportedly admitted their guilt when they appeared before the committee. Surprisingly, the committee only ordered the guilty personnel to refund the money without reporting them to the police. The assembly, after careful study of the committee report, has also caused the transfer of these revenue collectors without any prosecution for their criminal conduct. The Metro Coordinating Director, AlhajiIshaqAsuru, in a telephone interview earlier with The Chronicle confirmed that indeed the Assembly set up the committee to investigate the issue. He also confirmed that the suspects had been asked to refund the money. The Public Relations Officer of the STMA, Mr. John Laste, after playing hide and seek with this reporter for a whole month eventually confirmed the setting up of the committee and the decision of the latter, ordering the affected revenue collectors to refund the money. He could not, however, tell The Chronicle the total amount the erring officers are to refund to the assembly. It would be recalled that when the STMA appeared before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament recently, it failed to produce receipts covering the huge expenditures. This angered a Ranking Member of the PAC to question why the STMA had been wasting its resources in such a reckless manner. Meanwhile, the elected Assembly Member for the Kojokrom electoral area, Mr. E.K.Mensah has blamed the failure of the assembly to meet its revenue target on the revenue collectors. Contributing to debate during the assembly sitting in Sekondi recently, E.K.Mensah contended that the revenue collectors were stealing from the assembly and that something ought to be done about the situation. He said in his electoral area for instance, the Revenue Collectors were slashing down figures paid as rent, property rate amongst others to the Assembly. He, therefore, called for mechanism to check the revenue collectors from further milking the Assembly.