In accordance with a High Court order, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has returned seized cash sums and unfrozen Cecilia Abena Dapaah‘s bank accounts and investments in her presence and with the approval of her attorneys.
The proceedings that began on July 24, 2023, with the seizure of cash amounts from Ms. Dapaah, and the freezing of her bank accounts and investments from July 26, 2023, effectively come to an end on August 31, 2023, upon compliance with the High Court’s order.
However, the OSP has stated it will continue to look into possible corruption and crimes related to corruption involving the troubled former sanitation minister.
The OSP states that inquiries into Ms. Dapaah’s alleged financial activities and corruption are still ongoing.
According to an OSP statement, investigations have turned up a variety of, sometimes contradictory, accounts of who owns and where the large amounts of money linked to Ms. Dapaah’s case are coming from.
This includes the reported cash thefts from her home, the money that has been seized, and the types and volume of transactions in her investments and financial accounts.
The Special Prosecutor expressed a legitimate concern that the cash sums taken from Ms. Dapaah and later returned to her might be tainted property.
He has once more used his statutory authority, this time under section 32(1)(a) of Act 959, to order the seizure of the cash sums from Ms. Dapaah in order to avoid any potential concealment or loss of these funds.
“The Special Prosecutor has invoked his statutory power under section 38(1) of Act 959 and regulation 19(1) of L.I. 2374 by directing the freezing of the bank accounts and investments of Ms. Dapaah effective 5 September 2023.”
“Further, subsequent to the indicated ruling and order of the High Court and the compliance by the OSP with said ruling and order, the Special Prosecutor considers that he has reasonable grounds to suspect that the cash amounts seized from and returned to Ms. Dapaah is tainted property and it is necessary to exercise the power of seizure to prevent the concealment or loss of said cash amounts,” the statement said.
