Ghana recorded over 27,000 fraud cases between 2019 and 2023, but a growing number of these cases are now being linked to money laundering, the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) has revealed in its 2025 Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Report.
The Centre said it investigated 27,043 fraud cases within the five-year period. Out of these, 635 suspects were charged with money laundering, 531 prosecuted, and 111 convictions secured. While the total number of fraud cases fell during the period, a development attributed to tougher legislation, improved preventive systems, technological tools, and public awareness campaigns, prosecutions rose steadily between 2019 and 2022.
The FIC credited the increase in prosecutions to stronger interagency collaboration and targeted training for both law enforcement officers and the judiciary.
Despite these gains, the Centre warned that money laundering continues to pose a serious threat to Ghana’s financial stability and international reputation. The report highlighted that fraud remains one of the most common predicate offences for money laundering, alongside drug trafficking, corruption, and organised crime. Vulnerable sectors include the financial system, real estate, and informal markets, with cross-border transactions and shell companies complicating detection.
“Money laundering not only undermines investor confidence but also provides avenues for terrorism financing and organised crime to thrive,” the FIC cautioned.
To counter these risks, the report noted that government, regulators, and law enforcement agencies are strengthening the country’s Anti-Money Laundering, Countering the Financing of Terrorism, and Proliferation Financing (AML/CFT/CPF) frameworks.
