The Acting Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), Raymond Archer, has defended the "tougher" bail conditions being applied in recent economic crime cases, saying low sureties make it easy for suspects to evade accountability.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Newsfile programme on Saturday [November 23, 2025], the Acting Executive Director of EOCO said bail must reflect the scale of financial exposure in ongoing investigations.

“I consider bail and sureties, or I liken it to the collateral you give for a loan,” he said. “When you give collateral that is less than the loan you take, there’s no motivation to pay back.”

Mr Archer said suspects involved in economic offences cannot be treated like ordinary offenders. “Assume at every point that every criminal is at least above average. The fact that you beat the barricade compliance and everybody to steal that money tells you it's not your average job,” he stated.

He warned that lenient bail terms allow suspects in major financial cases to avoid accountability. “You can let the loans go run itself and then there’s no collateral to fall back on and you let [it] go into default. In the same way, bail is connected to a case.”

Drawing from EOCO’s work on complex financial crimes, Mr Archer said the office frequently handles cases involving vast sums. “We do a lot of investigation for the banks, for example, where somebody has stolen $90 million,” he said. “Then you give him a bail of $20 million.”

His remarks come amid public debate over the rising bail amounts seen in recent high-profile arrests.

In May 2025, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, commonly known as “Chairman Wontumi”, was granted bail of GH¢50 million with two sureties after he was charged by EOCO for alleged financial loss to the state. Opposition MPs objected to the conditions, with the Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin calling the bond “unfair and unreasonable”.

In June, former National Food Buffer Stock Company CEO Abdul Hannan Wahab and his wife, Faiza Seidu Wuni, were granted bail of GH¢50 million and GH¢30 million, respectively. In October, the court revised the terms, raising Mr Wahab’s bail to GH¢100 million and his wife’s to GH¢50 million. Lawyers for the couple argued that the new amounts were harsh and out of proportion.

Just this November, the former Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) Managing Director, Edwin Provencal was arrested by EOCO and initially given a GH¢60 million bail.

The court later reduced it to GH¢30 million with two sureties and a requirement to surrender his passport. EOCO has since asked the court to toughen the conditions, saying the sureties should be justified to match the state’s exposure.

Mr Archer maintained that the principle guiding EOCO’s approach is straightforward. “The exposure of the risk must be matched. If not, the Republic will have no leverage,” he said.