Private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has stated that there is no need to establish a predicate offense in money laundering before a person can be charged for that offence.
A predicate offense is an illegal activity that is the foundation or the first crime in the chain of another crime. For example, in money laundering, an illicit act of tax evasion can be construed as a “predicate offense,” as the illegal proceeds generated from tax evasion would be laundered.
Kpebu says that if one fails to disclose the source of the income, it is enough to charge the person with money laundering.
He was commenting on the Office of the Attorney-General’s advice to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) not to initiate any move to investigate money laundering in the dealings of the former Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Dapaah.
Upon a request for advice by EOCO on the matter, the Attorney-General’s office, in a letter dated April 25, 2024, and copied to EOCO, said it found that the OSP did not submit the report on its collaborative investigation to EOCO.
Additionally, the office noted the OSP has not responded to EOCO’s request for its findings.
According to the Attorney General’s office, the docket presented to EOCO only contains the OSP’s letter transmitting the docket, the diary of action, statements taken during the investigation, and letters written by the OSP to other institutions like the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and banks for inquiries.
Speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, May 4, Kpebu said “The advisory is totally wrong … hogwash. It is clearly a mistake and must be withdrawn.
“Failure to disclose the money itself can be used as money laundering, they can use it as a basis to charge for money laundering
“The principle that you need a predicate offense in such a matter, Ghana has moved on from there. You don’t need a predicate offense for money laundering.”
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