By Morkporkpor Anku
Accra, July 1, GNA– An investigator says investigations traced part of the alleged GH¢49.1 million diverted from the Bureau of National Communications (BNC) to real estate acquisitions by former Director-General Kwabena Adu-Boahene and his wife.
Continuing his evidence-in-chief, Mr Frank Marshall Cromwell, a investigator with the Economic and Organiséd Crime Office( EOCC), said investigations established that Mr Adu-Boahene and his wife, Ms Adjei-Boateng, owned several properties, some of which were subsequently frozen under EOCO orders.
Led in evidence by Dr Justice Srem-Sai, Deputy Attorney-General, the investigator identified three EOCO freezing orders issued in April 2025 covering seven properties at the Mayfair Gardens Estate, a 27-bedroom apartment complex at Oyarifa known as Belsize Park, and another property at Dorchester Heights at Asokore Mampong.
Mr Cromwell told the court that EOCO’s Intelligence Unit first identified the properties during investigations into the alleged diversion of public funds.
He said investigators, accompanied by the accused persons and their lawyers, conducted a search at their residence on March 21, 2025, where ownership of seven properties at the Mayfair Gardens Estate was confirmed.
According to the witness, EOCO subsequently requested records from the management of the estate, which provided receipts showing payments made by the accused persons towards the properties.
Mr Cromwell said analysis of bank statements of BNC Communications Bureau Limited revealed that GH¢1.5 million was transferred to Advantage Solutions Limited before being paid to Mayfair Gardens Estate in April 2020.
He said one of the receipts from the estate confirmed the payment of GH¢1.566 million, which investigators linked to the funds transferred from the BNC Communications Bureau Limited account through Advantage Solutions.
The investigator further said other receipts showed payments made after 2020, which investigations traced to transfers from Advantage Solutions and Vertex Solutions, companies he alleged were associated with the accused persons.
Mr Cromwell also tendered documents relating to the identified properties, which he said had been frozen pursuant to court orders obtained by EOCO.
The witness told the court that investigations further revealed that almost all the GH¢49.1 million had been withdrawn or transferred from the BNC Communications Bureau Limited account within approximately six months.
He said UMB Bank filed a Suspicious Transaction Report in April 2020 after detecting irregularities on the account, adding that in March 2023, the accused persons instructed the bank to close the account and transfer the remaining balance to an Advantage Solutions account.
Mr Cromwell also identified a letter from the National Security Secretariat detailing Mr Adu-Boahene’s salary from 2017 to 2020.
Comparing the salaries with the properties acquired, he told the court investigators found it unusual that the couple could own 11 properties based on the disclosed earnings.
According to him, Mr Adu-Boahene earned an average monthly salary of about GH¢5,000 in 2017, GH¢6,000 in 2018 and GH¢7,000 in 2019.
The investigator testified that profiling of Ms Adjei-Boateng showed she undertook National Service in 2012 and 2013 before joining Advantage Solutions in 2018, with no other employment identified during investigations apart from her directorships in companies linked to the couple.
Mr Cromwell also identified a letter from the Ghana Audit Service to the Attorney-General requesting the unsealing of Mr Adu-Boahene’s asset declaration records.
Reading from the letter, he said it indicated that Mr Adu-Boahene had not declared his assets to the Auditor-General.
On the alleged procurement of a cyber defence system, the witness told the court that records obtained from the National Signals Bureau did not show receipt of the equipment Mr Adu-Boahene claimed was being purchased from ISC Holdings.
He identified an inventory of equipment submitted by the National Signals Bureau to the Attorney-General in April 2025, which, according to him, did not include the cyber defence system.
The investigator further identified a memorandum written by Mr Adu-Boahene through his lawyers to the National Security Coordinator explaining how the GH¢49.1 million was expended.
Mr Cromwell said, the memorandum listed expenditures under “special operations,” including about GH¢9 million allegedly transferred to ISC Holdings as part payment for a cyber defence system, Members of Parliament’s allowances and activities described as ensuring national stability.
However, Mr Cromwell told the court that EOCO’s investigations established that apart from the transfer to ISC Holdings, the remaining funds were channelled through companies including Advantage Solutions, from where monies withdrawn by the accused persons and other individuals.
He alleged that some funds withdrawn by prosecution witness Mildred Donkor were handed to Mr Adu-Boahene’s mother towards the Dorchester project, while other monies withdrawn by prosecution witness Frank Anane were allegedly delivered to Mr Adu-Boahene or paid into accounts on his instructions.
He said EOCO’s findings did not support the explanations contained in the memorandum regarding the expenditure of the GH¢49.1 million.
GNA
Reporter: Morkporkpor Anku
[email protected]
Edited by Samuel Osei-Frempong