The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has washed its hands off the Cecilia Dapaah $1million theft case.
The OSP has formally transferred its investigation into the financial affairs and assets of former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).
In a statement released on Thursday, January 25, the OSP clarified that while there was no direct evidence of corruption found in the seized funds and frozen bank accounts associated with Ms. Dapaah and her associates, there were strong indications of suspected money laundering and structuring.
However, the OSP emphasised that prosecuting matters related to these suspicions fell outside its mandate, which is limited to corruption and corruption-related offenses as defined by the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959). Therefore, the case has been transferred to EOCO for further investigation, in accordance with section 3 of Act 959, which mandates cooperation and coordination with other law enforcement agencies.
Consequently, the OSP has withdrawn its application to formalise the seizure and freezing of Cecilia Dapaah’s funds and bank accounts. Additionally, the office has abandoned the criminal trial initiated against the former sanitation minister for non-declaration of assets, following a series of in-chamber hearings on the matter.
For several months, the Special Prosecutor had held funds seized during the investigation of Cecilia Dapaah in its custody.
The office froze certain bank accounts of Ms. Dapaah over alleged involvement in corruption and corruption-related activities, despite her persistent denial of the accusations.
The legal proceedings faced hindrances, including an appeal at the Court of Appeal and a certiorari application regarding a decision to expedite the hearing time. Subsequently, the original judge took leave, necessitating the appointment of a new judge for the case.