OSP freezes Cecilia Dapaah’s account again shortly after unfreezing it

In response to a High Court ruling, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) initially complied by returning Cecilia Abena Dapaah’s seized cash and unfreezing her bank accounts and investments. This action took place on Tuesday, September 5, as per the High Court’s orders.

The OSP released a press statement confirming this development: “The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has complied with the ruling and order of the High Court, Accra, dated August 31, 2023, by unfreezing the frozen bank accounts and investments of Cecilia Abena Dapaah. The OSP has also returned the seized cash sums of Ms. Dapaah in the presence and with the consent of Ms. Dapaah and her lawyers.”

This move marked the termination of the proceedings initiated on July 24, 2023, to seize Ms. Dapaah’s cash and freeze her financial assets, which had been in effect since July 26, 2023.

However, in a surprising turn of events, the OSP has reseized the cash and frozen Ms. Dapaah’s accounts and investments. The reason cited for this action is the alleged conflicting accounts provided by the former Minister regarding the ownership of the monies.

Nonetheless, the OSP has assured the public that it will follow the necessary legal procedures for this latest seizure.

The press release explained: “Consequently, subsequent to the indicated ruling and order of the High Court and the compliance by the OSP with said ruling and order, the Special Prosecutor considers that freezing the bank accounts and investments of Ms. Dapaah is necessary to facilitate the ongoing investigation.”

“Therefore, the Special Prosecutor has invoked his statutory power under section 38(1) of Act 959 and regulation 19(1) of L.I. 2374 by directing the freezing of the bank accounts and investments of Ms. Dapaah, effective from September 5, 2023.”

The press release concluded by confirming the re-freezing of Ms. Dapaah’s accounts and the initiation of necessary legal processes: “Further, subsequent to the indicated ruling and order of the High Court and the compliance by the OSP with said ruling and order, the Special Prosecutor considers that he has reasonable grounds to suspect that the cash amounts seized from and returned to Ms. Dapaah is tainted property and it is necessary to exercise the power of seizure to prevent the concealment or loss of said cash amounts.”

“Therefore, the Special Prosecutor has again invoked his statutory power under section 32(1)(a) of Act 959 by directing the seizure from Ms. Dapaah of the cash amounts previously seized from her. Authorized officers of the OSP have seized said cash amounts from Ms. Dapaah.”

It’s worth noting that the Financial and Economic Division of an Accra High Court had previously ordered the OSP to return all the money seized from Cecilia Dapaah.

The court ruled that the OSP’s application for the confirmation of the seizure was filed out of time and lacked a sufficient basis. The court further criticized the freezing order for being based on public sentiment without proper investigation. The court instructed that this ruling must be adhered to within seven days and declined to confirm the freezing of Ms. Dapaah’s bank accounts and other properties.