By Stanley Assor
The National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) has named Evangelist Emmanuel Boakye-Danquah, founder and general overseer of Holy Ghost Fire Hour Ministry International in Klagon, as a suspect at large in a nationwide crackdown on syndicates producing, possessing and distributing counterfeit Ghanaian and foreign currencies.
The case has political ramifications for the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), amid allegations that the pastor was a financier of its Tema West constituency and enjoyed access to senior officials under former President Nana Akufo-Addo.
In a 22 September 2026 statement, the NSCS said Boakye-Danquah was a suspect in one of four major counterfeit-currency printing hubs dismantled in six coordinated operations between 12 June and 24 July. The operations followed months of covert intelligence gathering. They produced 16 arrests and the seizure of four printing machines, six vehicles, two motorcycles and large quantities of finished counterfeit notes and unprocessed currency coupons.
The NSCS said a 29 June operation targeted an office facility at Lashibi and Klagon, leading to five arrests and the recovery of printing equipment. Follow-up intelligence led investigators to the headquarters of a religious facility in Klagon, where administrative offices and residential quarters were allegedly used to produce and store counterfeit currency. One printing machine and two operational vehicles were seized.
Seized coupons were valued at US543,000, GH¢196,600 and CFA60,000. Unprocessed coupons allegedly intended for further printing were valued at US$5,293,500, GH¢19,553,700 and CFA623,550,000.
The 16 suspects and physical and digital exhibits have been transferred to the Bureau of National Intelligence (BNI). Case dockets are with the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice, with prosecution ongoing at the Accra High Court, General Jurisdiction. All 16 have been remanded into state custody.
The first raid, on 12 June at Amuzu, Kasoa, targeted a residential compound allegedly operating under cover of a traditional spiritual centre. Nana Nyarko Derrick Dapaah was arrested. A printing machine, fake gold bars, five mobile phones and assorted counterfeit notes and coupons were seized.
A second operation targeted an alleged transnational criminal cell transporting high-grade foreign counterfeit currency between commercial centres in unregistered vehicles. Seven suspects three Ghanaians and four foreign nationals—were arrested. Three unregistered vehicles and US$65,900 in counterfeit notes were seized.
On 9 July, security operatives intercepted a commercial dispatch rider near the Lakeside Shell filling station allegedly transporting pre-packaged counterfeit currency to buyers.
Issah Ibrahim was arrested; Adamu Haruna was listed as at large. Five boxes of counterfeit GH¢200 notes with an estimated face value of GH¢12,421,600 were seized, along with two registered motorcycles.
In another operation, Solomon Acheampong, 54, was arrested at an alleged regional distribution point. Amankwah Bismark was identified as a suspected kingpin still at large. A white Toyota Corolla, three mobile phones, GH¢500 in genuine currency and assorted counterfeit coupons were seized.
The final operation, on 24 July, targeted a hotel at Achimota Mile 7. Osman Iddrisu, 50, described as a key technical operator, was arrested with mobile printing equipment. A subsequent search of his Amasaman residence uncovered an alleged fully equipped secondary printing facility. Two printing machines and quantities of counterfeit notes and coupons were seized.
The NSCS said the syndicates operated through structured networks involving transnational facilitators, technical printing operators and commercial couriers who used motorcycles to distribute counterfeit currency.
It warned that millions of finished notes and unprocessed coupons, plus four high-capacity printing machines, had prevented a potential threat to monetary stability. Widespread circulation, it said, could contribute to artificial inflation, exchange-rate distortions and disruption to the financial sector.
Special intelligence teams remain deployed to locate other suspects. Prosecutors have begun forfeiture proceedings for vehicles, printing equipment and mobile devices. The NSCS urged financial institutions, property owners and religious facility administrators to exercise greater due diligence and report suspicious high-volume printing or foreign-currency transactions.
The political sensitivity is unavoidable. Claims that Boakye-Danquah was an NPP financier in Tema West, and that he shared a family relationship with Akufo-Addo, have not been substantiated in the NSCS statement. They nevertheless provide context to the church’s visible ties to the former government.
On 26 January 2020, the church dedicated and unveiled its Klagon building. Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, then Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, attended as special guest and used the occasion to promote the Akufo-Addo government’s record and the Free SHS programme.
Also present, according to the account, were Juliet Gyamfi, identified as the wife of then Deputy Chief of Staff Asenso Boakye, and Adwoa Amoako, then Akufo-Addo’s Municipal Chief Executive for Tema West.
Boakye-Danquah is married to Prophetess Susan Boakye-Danquah and co-runs the church with Pastor Eric Boakye-Danquah. The report also referenced wider, contested allegations about other figures linked by surname or marriage to the former first family, including past cocaine-trafficking and procurement scandals and the departure of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. Those claims are not part of the NSCS case and remain unproven.
For the NPP, the affair risks reopening questions about informal financing networks and the use of religious premises. For investigators, the priority is locating Boakye-Danquah and dismantling remaining cells. The Accra High Court proceedings will test whether an intelligence-led crackdown can be converted into convictions.