The Accra High Court has issued a ruling, requiring the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to return the seized funds of Cecilia Dapaah within a period of seven days.
Ms. Dapaah, a former Sanitation Minister, had her assets confiscated by the OSP during an investigation into corruption and corruption-related offenses.
The OSP discovered that Ms. Dapaah was in possession of over $1 million in her residence, prompting a comprehensive search of her properties. During the search, a substantial sum of US$590,000 in cash and GHC2.730,000 in cash were discovered at her Abelemkpe residence.
The OSP seized these funds as crucial evidence to support their ongoing investigation and subsequently froze Ms. Dapaah’s cedi and dollar accounts. However, the Accra High Court has overturned this action and directed the OSP to return the confiscated funds to Ms. Dapaah.
Recall that in a sequel to the trending saga, the Office of the Special Prosecutor froze bank accounts belonging to the former Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Cecilia Abena Dapaah.
According to sources, the accounts have a lot of money in both the dollars and cedis accounts. The Office of the Special Prosecutor then filed a motion with the court to seize the money that was found during the search of her house.
Even though the OSP has the power to administratively freeze accounts linked to a person of interest, the action may only continue as long as the court agrees.
According to reports, between July and October of 2022, the former minister of sanitation had millions of dollars stolen from her Abelemkpe residence by her housekeepers. The minister has resigned as a result of the scandal.
It is alleged that 18-year-old Patience Botwe and 30-year-old Sarah Agyei stole $1 million, €300,000, and thousands of Ghana cedis, in addition to clothing and jewels valued at over GH$100,000. Two housekeepers and three other suspects have been sent to a circuit court in Accra to face charges.
On Wednesday, August 2, police prosecutor DSP Emmanuel Nyamekye revealed the new information in court. Five people, including two of the former Minister’s housekeepers, have been arrested on charges of stealing worth one million dollars, 300,000 euros, and thousands of Ghanaian cedis.
The prosecutor added that investigators were in Tamale conducting more investigations relating to the case, but the accused suspects were not present.
The total number of suspects in this case has increased to seven after the arrests of two more people. The remaining six, including the new suspects, remain in police custody. On Wednesday, August 2, police prosecutors in the case of the suspected theft of over a million dollars from the former sanitation minister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, did not bring forward the accused suspects.
