The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has disclosed that after nearly seven months of joint investigations with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into the financial dealings of former Sanitation Minister Cecilia Abena Dapaah, no direct evidence of corruption was established against her.
The OSP began its probe in July 2023 following revelations of large sums of cash and valuables linked to Ms. Dapaah and her associates. The case drew significant public attention after reports of stolen cash from her private residence sparked questions about the source of her wealth.
According to the OSP’s latest report, while the investigations did not uncover immediate evidence of corruption concerning the seized funds and frozen accounts, they revealed strong indications of suspected money laundering and “structuring,” which fall outside the OSP’s statutory mandate.
In January 2024, the OSP referred the case to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) for further action. However, in May 2024, EOCO returned the docket, arguing that money laundering is a collateral offence that must be premised on a predicate offence. Without such an offence, EOCO said, it lacked the authority to proceed.
The matter resurfaced in 2025 when EOCO’s new leadership requested the docket back for review. On May 29, 2025, the OSP forwarded a duplicate docket, noting that although it could not directly pursue the money laundering aspect, the case provides “a valuable background” for EOCO to commence its own investigation.
The OSP has pledged its “full collaborative support” to EOCO as the matter undergoes further review.
Ms. Dapaah, who resigned from government in 2023 after the controversy broke, has consistently denied wrongdoing.
