Adu-Boahene demands full disclosure of National Security operational accounts across 7 administrations

Lawyers for former Director General of the National Security Bureau (NSB), Kwabena Adu-Boahene, have filed a formal request at the High Court in Accra demanding the production of all operational accounts managed by the National Security Coordinator from 1992 to date.

The request spans the tenures of seven successive governments, including both past and present administrations from former President Jerry John Rawlings to the current John Dramani Mahama administration.

Filed under Criminal Case No. CR/0418/2025 before the General Jurisdiction Division “10” of the High Court, the demand forms part of the defence team’s strategy to ensure what they describe as a “fair trial and full disclosure.”

The case, which has drawn significant public and media interest, involves Kwabena Adu-Boahene and three other accused persons: Angela Adjei Boateng, Milfred Donkor, and Advantage Solutions Ltd.

They are standing trial on charges brought by the Republic of Ghana, reportedly linked to allegations of financial misconduct and procurement breaches involving state agencies.

In an application dated Monday, June 9, 2025, and signed by lead counsel Mr Samuel Atta Akyea of Zoe, Akyea & Co., the defence team served notice to the Registrar of the High Court and the Office of the Attorney-General, requesting access to the National Security Coordinator’s operational accounts under the administrations of former President Jerry John Rawlings, former President John Agyekum Kufuor, the late former President John Evans Atta Mills, former and current President John Dramani Mahama, and former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

“Take Notice that Counsel for the Accused persons herein requires you in aid of fair trial and full disclosure to produce for his inspection and making of copies thereof the various National Security Coordinator’s operational accounts in the following Governments:

“i. President Rawlings’s Government (1992 to 2001), ii. President Kufuor’s Government (2001 to 2009), iii. President Atta Mills’s Government (2009 to 2012), iv. President Mahama’s Government (2012 to 2013), v. President Mahama’s Government (2013 to 2017), vi. President Akufo-Addo’s Government (2017 to 2025) and vii. President Mahama’s Government (2025 to date),” the application read.

According to Mr. Atta Akyea’s application, “the production of these documents is vital to the constitutional right of the accused to a fair trial, particularly in a case where questions about financial oversight and accountability lie at the heart of the allegations.”

Atta Akyea argues that “full transparency of how national security funds have been handled over the decades will help establish the broader context within which the accused persons operated.”

Charges

Kwabena Adu Boahene, his wife, Angela Adjei Boateng, Ms Mildred Donkor; and a company, Advantage Solutions Ltd, were charged by the Attorney General, Dr Dominic Ayine, on Wednesday, 30 April 2025, with stealing, and conspiracy to steal.

The others charges preferred against the accused persons are defrauding by false pretences, willfully causing finacial loss to the state, using public office for private gain, collaboration to commit a crime, obtaining public property by false statement, money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laudering.

Witness statements

The Attorney General (AG), Dr Dominic Ayine, on Tuesday, 2 June 2025, filed three witness statements in support of his charges against Kwabena Adu Boahene and the three other accused persons.

The witnesses are Frank Anane Dekpey, who served as a driver at the NSB, Edith Ruby Opokua Adumuah, the Director of Finance at NSB and Frank Marshall Cromwell, staff officer at the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the investigator in the case.

Background

Kwabena Adu Boahene was arrested by officials of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) at Kotoka International Airport on Thursday, March 20, 2025, upon his arrival in Accra from London, United Kingdom, on board a British Airways flight, on suspicion of committing various financial crimes.

His wife was arrested on Friday 21 March when she showed up at the EOCO offices to obtain first-hand information on why her husband had been arrested and detained by the state.

EOCO initially granted both husband and wife bail in the sum of GHC120 million (for Adu Boahene) and GHC80 million (for Ms Adjei Boateng). The husband and wife remained in custody because of their inability to meet the bail sums and other conditions imposed by EOCO.

A-G’s claims

While in custody, Dr Dominic Ayine, in his capacity as Attorney General, held a press conference where he put out several discoveries his office has made out of onging investigations which were being carried out into the dealings of Mr Adu Bohene and his wife. Dr Ayine among others stated;

“According to the mandate on the account, either of the directors could sign cheques and approve transactions on the account. In his capacity as director of the National BNC, Mr. Adu-Boahene, on January 30th, 2020, signed a contract on behalf of the Government of Ghana and the National Security Council, on the one hand, and on the other hand, an Israeli company called ISC Holdings Limited.

“The contract was for the purchase of a cyber defence system software at a price of seven million United States of American dollars. Let us call this contract the GOG ISC contract. On February 20th, no, February 6, 2020, Mr. Adu-Boahene then transferred an initial amount of 27,100,000 Ghana cedis, that is from the National BNC’s operations account at Fidelity Bank to the Private BNC account at UMB.

Official documentation on the transfer revealed that the amount was for the payment of cyber defence system software, which the National BNC was buying from ISC Holdings in Israel. Mr. Adu- Boahene, in effect, transferred the money from the National BNC to his private company, the Private BNC.

“A review of the transactions on the bank accounts reveals that once the funds from the National BNC landed in the account of his Private BNC at UMB Bank, Mr. Adu-Boahene caused his Private BNC to transfer an amount of 9,537,520 Ghana cedis to ISC Holdings in Israel. By the exchange rate at the time, this amount was the Ghana cedi equivalent of 1,750,000 United States of American dollars.

“To justify or facilitate the transfer of the 9.5 million, Mr. Adu-Boahene fraudulently attached a copy of the Government of Ghana ISC contract as well as an invoice, which he held out as an invoice issued by ISC Holdings Limited in respect of the Government of Ghana ISC contract. On March 18, 2020 and March 30, 2020, respectively, he again transferred 21 million Ghana cedis from the National BNC Director’s account at Fidelity Bank to the same Private BNC account at UMB.

“The narration of the transaction indicated that it was for the payment of the cyber defence system that the National BNC was buying. The transfer from the National BNC’s account brought the total transfers that he made to his Private BNC to 49 million Ghana cedis. By the exchange rate at the time, this amount was exactly the Ghana cedi equivalent of 7 million United States of American dollars, the exact full amount which he quoted as the price at which ISC Holdings sold the cyber defence equipment to Government of Ghana.

“All the payments transferred to the invoice, I mean a number from ISC Holdings, all the payments referenced the invoice number from ISC Holdings to the National BNC. Importantly, after the initial transfer of the 9.5 million Ghana cedis, which was the equivalent of 1.750 United States of American dollars from the Private BNC to ISC Holdings, no further navments were made to ISC HoIdinas.

“A review of the transactions on the Private BNC account reveals that after the payment of the 1.7 million, 1,750,000, Mr. Adu-Boahene and his wife began applying the rest of the funds for their personal use, making
transfers to local third parties, you know, personal investment as well as transfers to unknown persons. And by the way, ladies and gentlemen of the media, we have all the account details, we have all the receipts
and any person who took money from Mr. Adu-Boahene from that account, we know.

“Now, our investigation, which was conducted by EOCO as I have indicated, has established that the ultimate beneficial, no, sorry, in essence, the difference between 49 million Ghana cedis, being the money Mr. Adu-Boahene transferred from the bank account of the National BNC to his Private BNC, and 9.5 million being the money he actually paid to the ISC Holdings for the software ended up with him and his wife.

“That is to say that the sum of 39,462,480 Ghana cedis of taxpayers’ money went into their private pocket. The investigation has revealed that the ultimate beneficial owner of BNC Communications Limited is another company known as Advantage Solutions Limited.”

Contention of applicants

In their statement of claim, Kwabena Adu Boahene and his wife indicated that “the domino effect of Dr Ayine’s press conference aforesaid is that the footages and commentaries have been widely circulated on various news
portals and social media platforms in which the Plaintiffs continue to be on the receiving end of severe, unmitigated and disdainful backlash to this day.

“The international and widespread opprobrium visited on the Plaintiffs (Kwabena Adu Boahene and Angela Adjei Boateng), by the Defendant (Dr Dominic Ayine), has become a continued discussion on media outlets and has affected the young children of the Plaintiffs who are ridiculed and taunted by their mates in school.

“In the natural and ordinary meaning, the words spewed out to the entire world, of and concerning the Plaintiffs by the Defendant, meant and were understood to mean that the Plaintiffs are criminals and fraudsters who have embezzied State funds to enrich themselves. Needless to-add that the Plaintiffs are involved in money laundering,

“In consequence, the Plaintiffs reputation have been seriously damaged and they have suffered public shame, public hatred, distress and embarrassment The Plaintiffs will rely on the following facts and matters in support of their claim for damages including exemplary and aggravated damages.

“At all material times, the Defendant, working hand in hand with the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), had arrested the Plaintiffs and incarcerated them in the EOCO cells without giving them the opportunity to hear their side of the Defendant’s concluded matter.

“The Defendant acting outside his constitutional remit as Attorney General, and on a frolic of his own, pronounced that the Plaintiffs are criminals and fraudsters, comfortably ignoring the constitutional
postulate that the Plaintiffs are innocent until they are declared guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.

“The Defendant per his pedigree and scholarship aforesaid was acutely aware that the easier way to scandalise the Plaintiffs and to cause them the maximum reputational damage was in the court of public opinion rather than a court of law where he has to prove the Plaintiffs’ guilt beyond reasonable doubt,” Adu Bohene and his wife noted in their statment of claim filed in court.