Gov’t freezes GH¢50M in Wontumi’s accounts amid financial crime investigations

The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has frozen nearly GH¢50 million belonging to Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, as part of ongoing investigations into suspected financial crimes.

Felix Kwakye Ofosu, a government spokesperson, disclosed the development on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, revealing that the funds in Antwi-Boasiako’s accounts have been secured by authorities probing financial misconduct.

According to Kwakye Ofosu, the freeze on the millions is part of broader efforts by the state to trace and secure assets suspected to be linked to corruption. He noted that similar amounts have been frozen in other high-profile cases, including investigations involving the former Signals Bureau head, Adu Boahen, and the National Service scandal.

So far, authorities have secured a total of GH¢1.5 billion across multiple cases, with the asset freezes serving as interim measures pending the conclusion of legal proceedings.

Kwakye Ofosu emphasised that these freezes are temporary and do not equate to immediate recovery of the funds.

“They are not going to be able to recover until the persons involved have been convicted by a court, which then gives the legal authority to recover whatever is alleged to have been stolen,” he explained.

The spokesperson clarified that asset tracing is standard practice in financial crime investigations, allowing the state to secure suspected proceeds of crime before court judgments are delivered.

“The aim is to ensure that suspected proceeds of crime are secured so that as much as possible we safeguard amounts linked to the offences under investigation,” Kwakye Ofosu stated.

He also addressed public confusion regarding President John Dramani Mahama’s earlier statement about EOCO recovering GH¢600 million. Kwakye Ofosu explained that figure relates to routine EOCO investigations covering money laundering, cybercrime, cross-border crime, and carjacking, whereas the high-profile corruption cases involve additional legal processes before any recovery can occur.

Authorities continue to trace more assets linked to these cases as investigations proceed.