Ghana’s Attorney General has confirmed the arrest of Kwabena Adu Boahene over alleged financial misconduct involving public funds. According to investigations, Boahene, former Director of the National Signals Bureau (formerly, Bureau of National Communication, BNC) engaged in fraudulent transactions that led to the misappropriation of millions of Ghana cedis.
Financial Dealings and Fraudulent Activities
Mr. Adu Boahene served as Deputy Director of the BNC and subsequently its Director from 2017. In other words, he has been in the management and control of Ghana’s signal infrastructure since 2017.
As Director of BNC, Adu Boahene co-signed the organization’s account at Fidelity Bank. However, in 2018, he and his wife, Angela Adjei-Boateng, registered a private company named BNC Communications Bureau Limited. The Attorney General stated, “The similarity between the names here was designed to engage in a criminal enterprise.”
On October 26, 2018, the couple opened a corporate account at Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) for their private company. On January 30th, 2020, Adu Boahen signed a contract on behalf of the Government of Ghana and National Security with ISC Holdings Limited, an Israeli company, for a cyber defense system. The contract was valued at $7 million.
On February 6, 2020, Adu Boahene transferred GH₵27.1 million from the National BNC’s operations account at Fidelity Bank to his private company account at UMB. Official documentation showed the transfer was for the cyber defense system.
The attorney general said, “A review of the transactions on the bank accounts reveals that once the funds from the National BNC landed in the account of his Private BNC at UMB Bank, Mr. Adu Boahene forced his Private BNC to transfer an amount of 9,537,520 Ghana cedis to ISC Holdings in Israel (1,750,000 USD equivalent at the time).”
According to the attorney general on March 18, 2020, and March 30, 2020, respectively, he again transferred 21 million Ghana cedis from the National BNC Director’s account at Fidelity Bank to the same private BNC account at UMB, bringing the total amount moved to GH₵49 million. “By the exchange rate at the time, this amount was exactly the Ghana cedi equivalent of 7 million USD, the exact full amount which he quoted as the price at which ISC Holdings sold the cyber defense equipment to the Government of Ghana,” the Attorney general noted.
However, only GH₵9.5 million was paid to ISC Holdings. “Importantly, after the initial transfer of the 9.5 million Ghana cedis equivalent of 1,750,000 USD from the Private BNC to ISC Holdings, no further payments were made to ISC Holdings,” the attorney general stressed.
He said a review of the transaction in the Private BNC account reveals that after the payment of the 1,750,000 USD, he began applying the rest of the funds for personal use, making transfers to local third parties, personal investments, as well as transfers to unknown persons.
The attorney general warned that they had the receipts of all money taken from the private account of Mr. Adu Boahene. “We have all the account details; we have all the receipts, and any person who took money from that account, we know.”
“In essence, the difference between 49 million Ghana cedis being the money Mr. Adu Boahene transferred from the bank account of the national BNC to his private BNC and 9.5 million being the money he actually paid to the ISC Holdings for the software ended up with him and his wife,” he stressed.
Asset Acquisition and Bank Transactions
According to the attorney general, investigations revealed the misappropriated funds were used for significant property acquisitions in Ghana and abroad. Some of the properties linked to Adu Boahene include multiple estates in Accra and two properties in London.
He said,”Ten other companies are through a very complex web of shareholding and directorship connected to Mr. Adu Boahene and his wife, Angela. We are tracking all the companies.” According to the attorney general, they have tracked their assets.
Among the properties identified, the attorney general identified:
- No. 2 Stream Park Drive, Mayfair Estates, La, Accra – Deposit of $1 million
- No. 6 Edith Avenue, Mayfair Estates, Accra – Deposit of $500,000
- No. 7 Edith Avenue, Mayfair Estates, Accra – Deposit of $200,000
- No. 8 Edith Avenue, Mayfair Estates, Accra – Deposit of $97,815
- No. 9 Edith Avenue, Mayfair Estates, Accra – Deposit of $270,000
- No. 10 Edith Avenue, Mayfair Estates, Accra – Deposit of $150,000
Furthermore, Adu Boahene owns Vertex Properties, which has acquired 27 houses in Oyarifa, each valued at approximately $295,000. The attorney general says they have also identified two properties in London linked to him.
Ongoing Investigation and Legal Action
The Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) is conducting further investigations into the financial transactions of Adu Boahen and his companies. The attorney general says they are also closely monitoring accounts linked to him. “We know that the three banks that they have been dealing with substantial financial transactions are UMB, Fidelity Bank, and Stanbic Bank. So we are monitoring them keenly.”
Banks have been warned against facilitating any fund transfers related to Boahen. “The managers of these banks should be careful about what they do on any account connected to Mr. Adu Boahene and his wife and their companies,” the Attorney General stated.
The attorney general also declared his reasons for not revealing the other suspects as a way to protect their strategy. He said for the purposes of their strategy they may have to use some suspects as prosecution witnesses.
Adu Boahene and his wife remain in custody as authorities finalize charges against them. “we’ll conclude in the next few days and file charges against him and the other suspects. We have given them bail conditions from EOCO,” the Attorney General highlighted.
