Ghana’s former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, who is wanted at home on corruption allegations, has been detained in the US over issues related to his immigration status, his lawyers say.
Ghana has previously requested Ofori-Atta’s extradition, but his lawyers are challenging this, saying the allegations against him are politically motivated.
Ofori-Atta left Ghana last year for medical reasons, his legal team said.
On Wednesday, confirming his detention in the US, they said they expected the matter to be resolved “expeditiously”.
In a statement, Ofori-Atta’s lawyers said their client was “law-abiding” and was in the process of applying to change his immigration status allowing him to stay in the US “past the period of validity of [his] visa”.
The BBC has contacted ICE for comment.
Ofori-Atta faces dozens of charges relating to his time in office under the previous administration, including conspiracy to commit procurement fraud and causing financial loss to the state.
Last February, prosecutors in Ghana declared the former minister a fugitive, alleging that he was trying to evade investigators. This status was withdrawn when his legal team said he did intend to return.
His lawyer Enayat Qasimi previously told the BBC that Ofori-Atta was “committed to fully complying with the laws of Ghana and… answering for anything he did when he was finance minister”.
He was finance minister from January 2017 to February 2024, when the New Patriotic Party was in power.
It lost the December 2024 elections, after which John Mahama from the National Democratic Congress became president, pledging to crack down on corruption.
Ghana enjoys warm relations with the US, and the two countries have collaborated on repatriating West African nationals, although it did condemn the US actions in Venezuela, which it called an “invasion”, describing the seizure of its leader Nicolás Maduro as an “abduction”.
By BBC News
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