A private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu has said that the money laundering element that has been introduced in the matter involving former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources Cecilia Abena Dapaah shows that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has identified a new offence against the former Minister.
The OSP has stated that its investigations so far indicate that the case borders on money laundering, which is outside its mandate.
Speaking on the Key Points on TV3 on Saturday, January 20, Mr Kpebu said, “The case must now go to the Police and EOCO, they will have to work on it together.”
He added “OSP by saying the case is money laundering means he has seen a new offence except that it is not corruption.”
The OSP had said it would, in due course, issue directives regarding the way forward on the Cecilia Dapaah case.
“The investigation shows that the case is largely in the province of suspected money laundering and structuring. By operation of law, there are other law enforcement agencies which are reposed with a direct mandate in respect of money laundering and structuring. On that score, the Special Prosecutor will issue directives and further action on the matter in due course,” portions of the second half-year report of the OSP dated December 29, 2023 read.
It would be recalled that in July 2023, the Office commenced investigation in respect of suspected corruption and corruption-related offences regarding large amounts of money (mainly in foreign denominations) and other valuable items involving Ms. Cecilia Abena Dapaah, a former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources and her spouse, Mr. Daniel Osei-Kufour.
The investigation was largely aimed at determining the source(s) of the large cash sums. The Office took several steps including freezing Ms. Dapaah’s bank accounts and investments and seizing large sums from the residence of Ms. Dapaah and her spouse.
Upon the refusal by the High Court to confirm the freezing and seizure orders, the Office re-seized the cash sums and re-froze the bank accounts and investments and applied to the court again for confirmation in FT0074/2023 The Special Prosecutor v. Cecilia Abena Dapaah & Daniel Osei-Kufour.
From October 2023, the investigation became cross-border and transboundary upon the claim by the persons of interest that part of the seized cash sums was transported into the jurisdiction from the United States.
For that reason, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States became involved in a collaborative investigative work with the OSP on the matter. In October 2023, the Special Prosecutor revoked the freezing order in respect of five (5) bank accounts of Ms. Dapaah, which were eliminated from the focus of the investigation as no longer suspected to be tainted property.