The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has officially reopened its investigation into former Sanitation and Water Resources Minister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, following a renewed request by its new leadership.
This development was confirmed by the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, during a press briefing in Accra on Monday, June 2, 2025.
According to Mr. Agyebeng, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has forwarded a duplicate docket of the case to EOCO for review and possible further investigation.
The case originally began in July 2023 when the OSP launched an inquiry into suspected corruption involving large sums of money and valuable items allegedly linked to Madam Dapaah and her associates.
The investigation, which ran concurrently with a probe by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), did not uncover any direct evidence of corruption tied to the seized funds or frozen bank accounts.
However, the OSP said its findings pointed to strong indications of suspected money laundering and financial structuring—offences that fall outside its legal jurisdiction but fall directly under EOCO’s mandate.
In January 2024, the OSP referred the case to EOCO for further investigation. But EOCO declined to proceed, citing the absence of a predicate offence, arguing that money laundering must be based on an underlying criminal act to be actionable.
Now, over a year later, EOCO’s new leadership has reignited interest in the matter. In a letter dated May 14, 2025, EOCO requested the OSP to resubmit the case docket. The OSP complied on May 29, forwarding a duplicate file to EOCO.
Mr. Agyebeng described the move as a welcome step, noting that the OSP considers the docket a valuable resource for EOCO to explore angles beyond the OSP’s direct mandate. He assured that the OSP will fully support EOCO in the renewed effort.
“EOCO returned the entire docket back to the OSP on the back of their reasoning that since money laundering is not a substantive offence but a collateral offence which must be founded on a predicate offence, EOCO did not have a mandate to commence investigations into the matter since it could not premise its investigation on any predicate offence.”
“By a letter dated 14 May 2025, the new leadership of EOCO requested the OSP to forward the docket back to EOCO for a review and commencement of investigation.”
“Under the cover of communication dated 29 May 2025, the OSP forwarded a duplicate docket of the case back to EOCO.”
“It is our considered opinion that the docket serves as a valuable background resource for EOCO to commence its own investigation in respect of aspects of the case the OSP does not have a direct mandate.”
“The OSP would lend its full collaborative support to EOCO in its review and investigation and probable further action,” Mr Agyebeng added.
