Government spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu says the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has frozen assets worth about ¢1.5 billion linked to ongoing corruption investigations.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, the Abura Asebu-Kwamankese MP explained that the frozen assets cut across several high-profile cases currently under investigation.

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

“Similar figures are involved in the former Signals Bureau boss, Adu Boahen, case, for instance, in the national service case and many others.”

Mr Kwakye Ofosu clarified that the frozen assets form part of ongoing investigations and cannot yet be recovered by the state until the courts determine the cases.

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

According to him, the asset freeze represents the amount investigators have been able to secure so far while tracing other assets linked to suspected offences.

“That is what the situation and this is even for the cases that they’ve been able to touch. Those that they’ve not touched. They are still in the process of tracing this asset.”

The government spokesperson also addressed earlier concerns about comments made by President John Mahama regarding the recovery of funds through EOCO operations.

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

He explained that the ¢600 million referenced by the President related to EOCO’s routine operations rather than corruption investigations tied to the government’s anti-corruption drive.

“That was in respect of the normal everyday cases that the EOCO handles, because they deal with issues of money laundering, cyber crime, cross-border crime, carjacking, and what have you.”

“So those are regular things that they do.”

Mr Kwakye Ofosu stressed that corruption-related assets cannot be confiscated until the courts have determined that the funds were illegally acquired.

“In respect of ORAL 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 or the court would have found to have been stolen.”

He noted that asset freezing is a standard procedure used during investigations to ensure suspected proceeds of crime are preserved.

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

The process, he explained, is designed to ensure the state can recover funds if the courts eventually confirm wrongdoing.

“So that as much as possible we secure what we believe will be commenced with to the amounts involved in offences that would have been completed.”