Former Ghanaian Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has been arrested and detained by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over issues relating to his residential status in the United States.
According to information available on the ICE website, the former minister was arrested on Tuesday and is currently being held at the Caroline Detention Facility in Virginia.
ICE confirmed that Mr Ofori-Atta is in their custody, although it remains unclear whether his detention is directly linked to Ghana’s extradition request or strictly an immigration-related matter.
The arrest comes amid mounting pressure on the former finance minister to return to Ghana to face trial after the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) charged him with 78 counts of corruption and related offences.
Lawyers for Mr Ofori-Atta, in a statement issued and signed by Justice Kusi-Minkah Premo, said his US legal team is in active contact with ICE and expects the matter to be resolved swiftly.
The statement explained that Mr Ofori-Atta has a pending petition for adjustment of status, a legal process that allows an individual to remain in the United States beyond the validity period of a visa.
“Mr Ofori-Atta has a pending petition for adjustment of status, which under US law is a common and lawful process,” the lawyers stated.
They added that their client is a law-abiding individual and is fully cooperating with US immigration authorities.
According to ICE, adjustment of status is the process by which an individual applies to become a lawful permanent resident (green card holder) while remaining in the United States.
This means the former finance minister applied for permanent residency at a time when Ghanaian authorities were actively pursuing criminal charges against him.
Typically, individuals apply for adjustment of status through the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), often via family sponsorship if a close relative is a US citizen or lawful permanent resident.
However, when a person is placed in deportation proceedings by ICE, the application must be made before an immigration judge.
ICE notes that adjustment of status cases can be complex, especially when the applicant is in detention.
Although ICE has not confirmed whether Mr Ofori-Atta’s detention is linked to Ghana’s extradition request, sources say the serious corruption charges against him cannot be ignored.
On 18 December, Ghana’s Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, confirmed that his office had formally submitted an extradition request to US authorities for Mr Ofori-Atta and his alleged accomplice, Ernest Akore, who served as his Chief of Staff during his tenure as finance minister.
Dr Ayine disclosed that the extradition process officially began on 19 November 2025, when Ghana submitted the request to the US Department of Justice.
“At this stage, the matter rests with US authorities, particularly the judicial system, to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to warrant the extradition of the accused persons to Ghana to stand trial,” Dr Ayine said.
Mr Ofori-Atta and his former Chief of Staff, along with other suspects, are accused of conspiring to establish a criminal enterprise that allegedly manipulated Ghana’s procurement system to secure contracts for Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML).
According to Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng, the accused persons influenced procurement processes to enable SML to unfairly secure contracts for transaction audits, external price verification, and measurement audits in the downstream petroleum sector through the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The OSP alleges that the criminal enterprise began in 2017, involving Mr Ofori-Atta, former GRA Commissioner Emmanuel Kofi Nti, Evans Adusei, and SML itself.
Investigations indicate that the contracts failed to deliver value for money, resulting in a financial loss of approximately GH¢1.4 billion (about $128 million) to the state.
Following investigations ordered by President John Dramani Mahama, the Ministry of Finance cancelled the SML contract on 31 October 2025.
The Special Prosecutor revealed that had the contract not been cancelled, SML directors had demanded GH¢2.8 billion over five years without parliamentary approval.
These developments led to the filing of 78 criminal charges against the suspects.
Lawyers for Mr Ofori-Atta maintain that their client travelled to the United States to seek medical attention and has no intention of evading accountability.
They insist he committed no wrongdoing during his seven years as finance minister.
However, the Office of the Special Prosecutor has rejected this claim, accusing the former minister of deliberately evading justice in relation to his tenure in office.