The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has arrested Dennis Edward Aboagye, the former Executive Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralization (IMCCoD), as part of an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of about GH¢55 million ($5.3 million) in public funds.
The arrest stems from an ongoing probe into suspected financial and procurement irregularities at the government agency following a forensic audit covering the period from Aug. 1, 2022, to Feb. 2, 2025, EOCO said in a statement on Monday.
The investigation was launched after the current Executive Secretary of IMCCoD petitioned EOCO to conduct further inquiries into the audit’s findings.
EOCO said investigators are examining allegations involving the suspected misappropriation, misapplication, diversion and theft of public funds totaling about GH¢55 million.
Aboagye and the committee’s former accountant, Gerald Appiah, are under investigation for alleged offences including conspiracy to steal, stealing, using public office for profit, causing financial loss to the state, dissipation of public funds, defrauding by false pretences and money laundering, according to the agency.
The anti-graft agency said it intensified efforts to arrest Aboagye after uncovering “significant new findings” last week relating to suspected fraud and theft.
EOCO placed Aboagye on a travel stop list a week ago to prevent him from leaving the country while investigators prepared to execute the arrest. However, the agency said it later discovered he had already departed Ghana.
He was arrested after returning through Accra International Airport on Saturday night, where officers of the Ghana Immigration Service enforced the stop order before handing him over to EOCO on Sunday morning.
Investigators subsequently conducted a search with Aboagye on Sunday, with the operation expected to continue.
EOCO said Appiah has voluntarily begun refunding money linked to the alleged offences but stressed that the repayments neither conclude the investigation nor absolve any suspect of criminal liability.
The agency said Aboagye will be granted bail in accordance with Ghana’s Constitution and applicable laws, while Appiah is expected to be released after meeting his bail conditions as investigations continue.
The case is the latest in a series of investigations by authorities into the alleged misuse of public funds as the government seeks to strengthen accountability and recover state assets.
Members of Aboagye’s political party, the NPP, are, however, at the office of EOCO, demanding his immediate release.
