EOCO arrests Chinese woman for laundering $313m

She was busted after an extensive investigations by officials of the EOCO that traced the transfers of illegal monies for years.

The suspect, Chen Jianhua, was arrested and placed in police custody in Accra after EOCO found that large amounts of money in dollars, some of them linked to non-existent companies, moved through multiple bank accounts from Ghana to China between 2011 and 2019.

According to the Daily Graphic, a source at EOCO said they began investigating Chen after identifying suspicious transactions through some bank accounts.

Ms Chen was consequently picked up last week and placed in police custody.

According to the source, on May 30, 2011, Jianhua opened a personal bank account (local and foreign) in Ghana.

The total credit transactions on the account as of March 20, 2019 was GH¢154.06 million for the local account and $12.36 million for the foreign account.

The corresponding debit was GH¢154.05 million and $12.36 million.

“She could not explain the source of the funds. Our investigations, however, revealed that those transactions were from companies including Synergy Global Consult Limited, Venturome Ventures, Kings Royal Real Estates and other Chinese nationals in Ghana.”

Executive Director of EOCO, Mr K.K. Amoah Pulse Ghana

“The cedis on the bank account were mainly converted into dollars, and in connivance with the bank, she sent the funds outside the country without proper documentation,” the source said.

Chen, the EOCO source said, held a residence permit Number RP0255003 issued in 2010, and tenable with Country Garden Limited, a restaurant.

“The entity ceased operating in 2012, which means the residence permit was not tenable, but she re-registered on March 13, 2019 while the investigations were ongoing,” it stated.

EOCO further found that there was no evidence of the operation of Country Garden as a restaurant.