Political commentator and IMANI Africa affiliate Kay Cudjoe says Dennis Miracles Aboagye attempted to have parts of a forensic audit removed before the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) began investigating alleged financial offences involving about GH¢55m.
Cudjoe made the claim in a statement shared on social media, while stressing that the allegations against the former Executive Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation remain under investigation.
The audit covered the period from August 2022 to February 2025. According to Cudjoe, its findings led the current Executive Secretary of the committee to petition EOCO over alleged misappropriation, diversion and theft.
He said the IMCC Secretariat also alleged that the audit identified two bank accounts which had not been included in the official handing-over notes.
One of those accounts reportedly recorded transactions worth GH¢102,256,802.69.
“That is transaction value, not proven loss. But it is also not a birthday card,” Cudjoe wrote.
Alleged attempt to remove findings
Cudjoe further said the Secretariat alleged that Aboagye, acting through a lawyer and a mutual acquaintance, sought a private meeting with the current Executive Secretary.
The purpose of the meeting, according to the claims cited by Cudjoe, was to request the removal of findings concerning the two accounts and several named entities.
The current Executive Secretary reportedly rejected the request.
“The Secretariat reportedly refused. Miracles did not merely promise to command the narrative. According to the institution, he first tried to edit the audit,” Cudjoe stated.
The claims form part of a wider investigation in which EOCO has taken action against Aboagye and others.
According to the statement, Aboagye was intercepted after returning to Ghana, handed over to investigators and taken through a search operation. He was later granted GH¢50m bail with three sureties.
Former accountant Gerald Appiah was also arrested. EOCO says Appiah had begun refunding money connected to the investigation.
An Accra High Court has confirmed EOCO’s application to freeze five bank accounts and four landed properties while the inquiries continue.
The freezing order does not amount to a conviction, confiscation or proof that the assets are proceeds of crime. It is a judicial measure intended to preserve the assets during the investigation.
Aboagye can challenge the order, apply for it to be varied or revoked, request access to funds for legitimate expenses and require investigators to prove any link between the assets and the alleged wrongdoing.
Questions raised by the investigation include what money entered the accounts, who sent it, when the properties were acquired, how much they cost, what lawful income was used to finance them and whether they are connected to the transactions under examination.
Cudjoe said the combined public discussion around the case involved figures of about GH¢105m: GH¢55m linked to the allegations being investigated and GH¢50m relating to Aboagye’s bail. He acknowledged that the figures are legally separate and cannot, when added together, establish that the amount was lost.
The political commentator also criticised attempts to frame the investigation as political persecution or to use media appearances to rebut the allegations before the investigators have completed their work.
He said claims of innocence did not remove the need to answer questions raised by the audit, bank records, frozen accounts and court orders.
“Guilt is unproven. The paper trail is not,” Cudjoe added.
The allegations against Aboagye have not been proved in court. EOCO’s investigation remains ongoing, while the High Court order continues to preserve the accounts and properties concerned.
