Deputy Attorney-General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah says the government is in the process of extraditing the former CEO of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedinam Tamakloe Attionu from the US, following her conviction in absentia on charges of causing financial loss to the state.
Attionu and a former Operations Manager of the state institution, Daniel Axim were sentenced yesterday to 10 and five years in prison respectively-
Following the verdict, Deputy Attorney General Tuah-Yeboah commended the decision, particularly highlighting the assurance that Tamakloe will be brought back to the country to serve her sentence.
“Good news, but what is refreshing is that she will be brought down to face the sentence, no problem at all,” he stated.
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He elaborated on the implications of the judgment, emphasizing its role in expediting justice. He reiterated Ghana’s legal framework for extraditing individuals from abroad to face legal consequences domestically.
Speaking to journalists after the case, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah said: “We’ve started the process and with this judgment, that’s going to speed up the process. When it comes to extradite, sometimes you start and have blocks, the person may choose to appeal and all manner of things. But this is the situation where we have a final judgment. Very soon she will be brought down to Ghana to face justice.”
Former MASLOC CEO, Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, to be extradited to Ghana for 10-year jail term – Alfred Tuah-Yeboah#UTVNews pic.twitter.com/TNsSGDgMfb
— UTV Ghana (@utvghana) April 17, 2024
Attionu led the firm from 2013-2016, but following the assumption of a new government, she was accused in 2019 of misappropriating funds intended for MASLOC activities and supervising many procurement breaches.
The court found both Tamakloe and Axim guilty on 78 counts for causing financial loss to the state – conspiracy to steal, money laundering, and violating public procurement laws, resulting in loss to public property after a 2017 investigation by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) found fraudulent disbursement of funds within the institution.
One such disbursement concerned a GHC 500,000 loan refund that could not be accounted for. The money had been initially lent to Obaatanpa Micro-Finance Company. But after the company refused to pay a 24% interest on the amount, then-MASLOC CEO, Sedinam Attionu asked its directors to refund the loan in cash, prosecutors said during the trial. Even though the cash amount was returned to Attionu on the night of August 28, 2014, prosecutors said it was not reflected in the institution’s audits.
They had also been accused of inflating the price of items the company had purchased during her tenure and in some instances signed procurement contracts without approval from the Public Procurement Authority for the purchase of about 350 vehicles.
Specifically for Daniel Axim, the court found him guilty of raising memos 23 times, under the direction of Attionu, for the collection of funds that were not used for their intended purpose. Giving examples from the investigation, the AG had argued in its case that Ms. Attionu and her operations manager failed to account for GH¢1.7 million meant for a sensitisation and monitoring programme and GH¢1.4 million meant to support victims of a 2013 fire disaster at the Kantamanto Market, in Accra.