Former Sanitation Minister Cecelia Abena Dapaah is to be investigated by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) after seven months of her corr
Former Sanitation Minister Cecelia Abena Dapaah is to be investigated by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) after seven months of her corruption and illegal possession of huge cash in her home. The new leaders of EOCO have requested the document of Cecelia Dapaah from the OSP, which was provided to EOCO to start an investigation.
Kissi Agyaben, the Special Prosecutor, confirmed in a news conference in Accra the decision of his office.
“The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) commenced investigation in July 2023 in respect of suspected corruption and corruption-related offences regarding large amounts of money and other valuable items involving Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah, a former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, and her associates.”
“After nearly seven months of extensive investigation by the OSP and a parallel inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States, no direct and immediate evidence of corruption was found in respect of seized funds and frozen bank accounts linked to Ms Dapaah and her associates though the investigation identified strong indications of suspected money laundering and structuring, beyond the direct mandate of the OSP.”
“In January 2024, the OSP referred the case to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) for commencement of investigation into the identified indications of suspected money laundering and structuring, which are under the direct mandate of EOCO.”
“EOCO returned the entire docket back to the OSP on the back of their reasoning that since money laundering is not a substantive offence but a collateral offence which must be founded on a predicate offence, EOCO did not have a mandate to commence investigations into the matter since it could not premise its investigation on any predicate offence.”
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