ORAL: Nearly GH¢50m in Chairman Wontumi’s accounts frozen – Kwakye Ofosu discloses

Minister for Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu has disclosed that nearly GH¢50 million belonging to Ashanti Regional New Patriotic Party (NPP) Chairman Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has been frozen as part of ongoing investigations into suspected financial crimes.

Speaking on Joy News on Tuesday, March 10 the Minister said the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) had taken steps to secure significant sums of money believed to be connected to various investigations.

“For instance, in Chairman Wontumi’s case alone, close to ¢50 million of money in his account has been frozen,” he said.

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Mr Kwakye Ofosu added that authorities have identified comparable financial figures in other high-profile cases currently under investigation.

“Similar figures are involved in the former Signals Bureau boss, Adu Boahen, case, for instance, in the National Service case and many others,” he stated.

According to him, the freezing of assets forms part of a broader effort by the state to trace and secure funds suspected to be linked to corruption and other financial crimes. He explained that the current action is part of a wider pool of assets already secured by investigators.

“But for now, what they can do is to freeze it, and they have done it, ¢1.5 billion,” he said.

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Mr Kwakye Ofosu emphasised that the asset freezes are temporary and will remain in place pending the outcome of ongoing legal proceedings. He noted that the state cannot confiscate the funds until the courts determine that they were unlawfully obtained.

“They are not going to be able to recover until the persons involved have been convicted by a court that then will give you an illegal remit to recover whatever it is that is alleged to have or the court would have found to have been stolen,” he explained.

The government spokesperson also addressed earlier public debate over remarks by President John Dramani Mahama concerning funds recovered by EOCO.

“Indeed, there were those who accused the President of misleading them when he said that EOCO had recovered ¢600 million,” he said.

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Mr Kwakye Ofosu clarified that the figure cited by the President related to routine cases handled by EOCO in the course of its operations.

“That was in respect of the normal everyday cases that the EOCO handles,” he noted.

He explained that EOCO investigates a broad range of offences, including money laundering, cybercrime, cross-border criminal activity and vehicle theft, among others.

However, he stressed that the high-profile cases currently attracting public attention involve complex financial investigations that require due legal process before any assets can be permanently recovered. Authorities, he added, are continuing efforts to trace additional assets linked to ongoing probes as part of measures to safeguard public funds.