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Ghana’s Former Minister Arrested For Suspected Corruption After Housekeepers Stole Over $1m From Home

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Cecilia Abena Dapaah, former Ghanaian Sanitation Minister, who resigned over the weekend after her houseworkers allegedly stole more than $1 million in cash from her home, has been arrested for suspected corruption, a special prosecutor said on Monday.

Dapaah has denied any crimes, but the case drew criticism from Ghana’s opposition, which questioned why a minister had such large amounts of cash in her house.

Special prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng said Dapaah was placed under arrest on Monday “in respect of suspected corruption and corruption-related offences regarding large amounts of money.”

Ghana’s special prosecutor’s office deals with cases of corruption involving public officials, judges or senior political party members.

The arrest came as President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government deals with the country’s worst economic crisis in years, which has pushed Ghana to seek a $3 billion loan from the IMF.

Akufo-Addo’s ruling NPP party is preparing for primaries later this year to choose its candidate to run in next year’s election.

In her statement on Saturday, Dapaah handed in her resignation, saying she did not want to be a “hindrance” to the government, but rejected reports of such large amounts of cash at the family home.

“I am resigning therefore because I do not want this matter to become a preoccupation of government and a hindrance to the work of government,” Dapaah said.

According to court documents, the two domestic workers face charges of stealing $1 million, 300,000 euros and millions of local Ghanaian cedis, as well as clothing. from a bedroom last year.

Akufo-Addo on Sunday accepted the resignation and applauded the former minister for her loyalty and “devotion”, his spokesman said.

But former Ghanaian leader John Dramani Mahama, who is the opposition NDC candidate for the 2024 election, described the incident as “scandalous”.

“$1m + €300k and millions of GHS in a Ghanaian Minister’s home? Scandalous!! Even if genuinely acquired, why keep millions of hard currencies at home?” He wrote on his Twitter account.

“Will Akufo-Addo ever set a good example for public office holders in his administration?”

A good governance advocate, Baffour Agyeman-Duah, has called on the ombudsman to probe the case.

“A lot is going through people’s minds,” he told AFP. “It involves a high-ranking public official so the Office of the Special Prosecutor must take it up just to clear any doubts.”

 

Credit: AFP

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US Court Sends British-Nigerian To Seven Years In Jail Over $5m Cyber Fraud

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Oludayo Adeagbo, a British-Nigerian, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in a multimillion-dollar business email compromise (BEC) scheme.

According to the US Department of Justice, Adeagbo, who also goes by John Edwards and John Dayo, conspired with others to steal over $3 million from various entities in Texas, including local government bodies, construction companies, and a Houston-area college.

Adeagbo and his co-conspirators also defrauded a North Carolina university of more than $1.9 million.

The case began in August 2022 when Adeagbo and two other Nigerian citizens, Donald Echeazu, 42, and Olabanji Egbinola, 44, were extradited from the United Kingdom (UK), where they had been residing, to face charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering.

The US Department of Justice stated that the offences were committed in North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.

On April 8, Adeagbo pleaded guilty in two cases against him in North Carolina and Texas for participating in a business email compromise scheme, which is also referred to as a “cyber-enabled financial fraud” scheme.

A business email compromise scheme can be initiated by scammers creating fake accounts that mimic companies a business regularly deals with.

Court records revealed that Adeagbo and his co-conspirators gathered information about significant construction projects across the United States, including a multi-million-dollar project at a university in North Carolina.

“To execute the scheme, Adeagbo, Echeazu, and others registered a domain name similar to that of the legitimate construction company in charge of the university’s project and created an email address that closely resembled that of an employee of the construction company,” the Department of Justice said.

“Using the fake email address, the fraudsters deceived and directed the university to wire a payment of more than $1.9 million to a bank account controlled by an individual working under the direction of Adeagbo and his co-conspirators.”

Adeagbo and his co-conspirators employed the same tactics in Texas, targeting local government entities and universities by impersonating construction companies. They stole over $3 million from the scheme, bringing their total haul to $5 million.

Adeagbo has been ordered to pay $942,655.03 in restitution and will serve seven years in prison.

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Nigerian-American Oye Owolewa Re-Elected To US Congress

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Oye Owolewa, a Nigerian-American Democrat, has been re-elected as the shadow representative for the District of Columbia (DC).

Owolewa, a PhD graduate from Northeastern University in Boston, made history in November 2020 when he became the first Nigerian-American elected to Congress.

He secured 164,026 votes, or 82.84 percent of the total votes cast in DC.

His role, while not officially recognized by the US government as a full member of Congress, is to advocate for the district’s interests, particularly its bid for statehood.

On Thursday, Owolewa expressed his gratitude to DC voters via a post on X, thanking them for their continued support.

“Thank you DC again for giving me chance to serve. I also want to thank the organizations that have supported, partnered with and endorsed me,” he wrote.

While shadow representatives like Owolewa do not have voting power in the US House of Representatives, they play a key role in pushing for recognition and state-level advocacy for DC residents, who are otherwise disenfranchised at the federal level.

Owolewa has consistently championed the cause of DC statehood, which has become a central focus of his work.

The re-election took place on November 5, the same day as the US presidential election.

In that election, former President Donald Trump defeated Vice-President Kamala Harris, securing over 270 electoral votes to win a second term.

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Joe Biden Urges Americans To Accept Trump’s Victory, Promises Peaceful Transition

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United States President Joe Biden has urged Americans to accept the victory of Republican Party candidate Donald Trump in the presidential election.

On November 6, Trump won the presidential election after surpassing the magic number of 270 electoral college votes.

Trump defeated Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party, who received 219 electoral college votes.

Harris has congratulated Trump on his electoral victory.

During a speech on Thursday at the White House Rose Garden, Biden said, “We accept the choice the country made.”

“I know for some people, it’s time for victory to state the obvious. For others, it’s a time of loss,” the US president said.

“Campaigns are contests of competing visions. The country chooses one or the other.

“I’ve said many times, you can’t love your country only when you win. You can’t love your neighbour only when you agree.

“I will do my duty as president. I’ll fulfil my oath and honour the Constitution. On January 20, we will have a peaceful transfer of power here in America.

“Remember, defeat does not mean we are defeated. We lost this battle. The America of your dream is calling for you to get back up.

“The America experiment endures. We are going to be okay, but we need to stay engaged. We need to keep going. Above all, we need to keep the faith.”

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