…27 Houses, London Flats & Secret Shell Companies – How Ghana’s Top Intelligence Boss ‘Stole’ Public Funds
Front Desk Report
Ghana’s attorney general has disclosed a list of luxury properties at home and in London that he says were bought by a former intelligence chief and his wife using diverted state funds, as a court rejected a defence bid to introduce new evidence in the related trial.
Kwabena Adu-Boahene, former director-general of the National Signals Bureau (NSB), and his wife Angela Adjei-Boateng are facing 11 charges including stealing, money laundering and causing financial loss to the state.
Prosecutors allege they diverted 49.1 million Ghanaian cedis ($4.1 million) meant for a national cyber defence system.
Attorney General Dominic Ayine told reporters in Accra on Monday that investigators had traced significant landed properties acquired by the couple.
“The proceeds from the suspects’ activities were used to buy significant landed properties and other assets of considerable value both in Ghana and elsewhere,” Ayine said.
A confidential dossier seen by The New Republic lists 13 properties across Accra and London. According to investigators, the assets include:
· Six properties in the Mayfair Estates in Accra’s Tse Addo district, with deposits ranging from $97,815 to $1 million.
· 27 houses in the Oyarifa district of Accra, each valued at $295,000, owned by Vertex Properties, a company linked to Adu-Boahene.
· Two apartments in the Embassy Gardens development in Cantonments, Accra, directly in Adu-Boahene’s name: Unit A227 (175,366).
· Two flats in Cobalt House, Bakery Walk, Greenford, London, valued at £499,000 and £670,000, registered under Vertex Properties and owned by Adjei-Boateng.
The dossier shows a paper trail of rapid fund movements from a state account through private companies controlled by Adu-Boahene, Advantage Solutions, Vertex Solutions and Securigence into real estate.
One entry cited by investigators: “GHs 1,566,000.00 transferred from Advantage Solutions account with UMB to Mayfair Estate on 27th April 2020… the funds originated from the tainted B.N.C Communications Bureau account.”
Later transfers included 582,000 cedis (June 2021), 1.22 million cedis (November 2021) and 1.017 million cedis (February 2022), according to the document.
Investigators say Vertex Properties Ltd was incorporated in June 2020 four months after the alleged diversions began. The ownership chain is circular: Advantage Solutions owns Vertex Solutions, which owns Vertex Properties, which controls the Dorchester Heights luxury development in Asokore Mampong.
A week ago, the Accra High Court rejected an attempt by Adu-Boahene’s lawyers to introduce email correspondence and pension payment records as evidence.
Justice Francis Apangabonu Achibonga ruled that the documents were irrelevant to the criminal charges.
“I do not see the relevance,” the judge said.
Regarding the pension records, he added: “The court cannot establish the relevance of salary and pension payment records to the criminal charges.”
Defence counsel Samuel Atta Akyea had sought to tender emails from August 2024 involving Petra Insurance and SSNIT pension receipts for employees of Advantage Solutions Limited, the third accused company.
Atta Akyea argued that prosecutors had branded Advantage Solutions as an “elaborate criminal enterprise” and that the documents would show the company was a legitimate business paying staff pensions and insurance. He warned of a “travesty of justice” and hinted at a possible mistrial.
Deputy Attorney General Justice Srem-Sai objected, saying the emails came nearly four years after the alleged crimes and had no connection to the case.
The judge sided with the prosecution. Both sets of documents were thrown out. Adu-Boahene, his wife and Advantage Solutions Limited face charges including stealing, money laundering, causing financial loss to the state and conspiracy. The trial continues.
The case has drawn close attention from Ghana’s anti-corruption community, with questions remaining over the extent of asset recovery, possible charges against additional accomplices, and potential cooperation with UK authorities to seize the London properties.