Government spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu has disclosed that nearly GH¢50 million belonging to Ashanti Regional NPP Chairman Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has been frozen as part of ongoing investigations into suspected financial crimes.

Speaking on PM Express, the Abura Asebu-Kwamankese MP said the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has secured large sums of money linked to multiple investigations.

“For instance, in Chairman Wontumi’s case alone, close to ¢50 million of money in his account has been frozen,” he stated.

Mr. Kwakye Ofosu added that similar amounts have been identified in other cases, including investigations involving former Signals Bureau boss Kwabena Adu-Boahen and the National Service Scheme probe.

“Similar figures are involved in the former Signals Bureau boss, Adu Boahen, case, for instance, in the National Service case and many others,” he said.

According to him, the freezes are part of a broader government effort to trace and secure assets suspected to be linked to corruption and financial misconduct. So far, authorities have frozen about GH¢1.5 billion in assets.

“But for now, what they can do is to freeze it, and they have done it, ¢1.5 billion,” he explained.

He clarified that the freezes are temporary measures and that the state cannot permanently recover the funds until a court determines they were illegally obtained.

“They are not going to be able to recover until the persons involved have been convicted by a court that then will give you an illegal remit to recover whatever it is that is alleged to have… been stolen,” he said.

Mr. Kwakye Ofosu also addressed earlier public debate over comments by President John Dramani Mahama, who had stated that EOCO recovered GH¢600 million.

“Indeed, there were those who accused the President of misleading them when he said that EOCO had recovered ¢600 million,” he noted.

He explained that the President’s figure referred to routine cases handled by EOCO, which include offences such as money laundering, cybercrime, cross-border crime and carjacking.

“That was in respect of the normal everyday cases that the EOCO handles… So those are regular things that they do.”

However, the high-profile investigations currently in the spotlight involve alleged corruption and financial crimes, which require full legal processes before any recovery can be made.

Authorities, he added, are still tracing additional assets linked to ongoing probes.

“This is even for the cases that they’ve been able to touch… They are still in the process of tracing this asset.”

He stressed that asset tracing is a standard procedure in financial crime investigations to ensure suspected proceeds of crime are secured while cases are ongoing.

“You know that anytime that anybody comes under investigation or is undergoing prosecution, they do concurrent tracing of assets,” he said.