Ghana’s Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Hon. Dr. Dominic Ayine, has announced the recovery of more than $15 million in proceeds linked to a sophisticated international cybercrime syndicate involving mostly Chinese and Malaysian nationals, describing the operation as one of the most significant asset recovery successes in the country’s law enforcement history.
Addressing journalists at the Government Accountability Series at the Jubilee House in Accra, Hon. Ayine said the recovery followed a complex and ongoing investigation conducted by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), an agency that operates under the supervision of the Attorney-General’s Department.
He noted that since assuming office, he has worked closely with EOCO’s Executive Director, Mr. Raymond Archer, and his team to strengthen Ghana’s capacity to combat organised economic crime.
“The investigation I’m about to announce and the results of that investigation, demonstrate the commitment of the Economic and Organised Crime Office to the fight against organised criminal enterprises. The investigation, which by the way is still ongoing, was complex and at the same time groundbreaking.”
Ghana’s Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Hon. Dominic Ayine
According to Hon. Ayine, the criminal operation dates back to around 2019, when an international network targeting Ghanaian and British citizens used e-commerce platforms and fraudulent online investment schemes to defraud victims.
The syndicate established a Ghanaian-registered company as a front, officially describing its activities as general trading and online marketing. Victims were lured through an e-commerce website, where they were required to pay a registration fee before being encouraged to buy so-called investment packages.
These packages ranged in value from GH¢770 to GH¢9,240 and were marketed under tiered categories labelled VIP1 through to VIP5. Hon. Ayine explained that victims were promised high returns through online trading accounts and virtual shops, a structure typical of Ponzi-style schemes.
Referral and Networking Systems
To expand the scheme, participants were urged to recruit others through referral and networking systems. Payments were accepted through mobile money, cash, and cryptocurrencies, with the syndicate producing instructional videos to guide victims on how to pay using virtual currencies.
These materials, the Attorney-General revealed, later became critical evidence for investigators. Using advanced blockchain analysis tools, including Chainalysis Reactor software, EOCO traced the movement of funds into cryptocurrency wallets used to launder the proceeds.
Investigators established that the wallets were hosted on the OKX crypto exchange platform, which is based offshore in Seychelles. An internal review by OKX flagged the wallet cluster as suspicious after detecting over a thousand transactions originating from a single IP address and location.
Further investigations uncovered Know Your Customer information identifying the wallet holder as a Chinese national residing and working in Ghana under a residence permit, and employed by the very company used to defraud victims. Ghanaian complainants also identified the individual as the person who directly received funds from them.
With the evidence assembled, EOCO froze the tainted wallets and formally served the freezing order on OKX. Hon. Ayine said the suspects, upon realising the wallets had been frozen, attempted to make inquiries through intermediaries and were subsequently invited to Ghana for further investigations.
By then, however, the company at the centre of the fraud had shut down and vanished. Efforts to obtain cooperation from Malaysian authorities through mutual legal assistance requests proved unsuccessful, prompting EOCO to seek international support elsewhere.
Hon. Ayine disclosed that investigators turned to the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency and enlisted the services of UK-based crypto asset firms to secure and manage the seized virtual assets.
Through a coordinated legal process, EOCO obtained a High Court order on May 27, 2025, directing OKX to transfer all seized crypto assets to Zodiac Custody for conversion into fiat currency. The court further ordered that the recovered funds be paid into EOCO’s exhibit account and used to compensate victims.
Transfer of Funds
On November 19, 2025, Zodiac Custody successfully converted the assets, which included Bitcoin, USDT, and Ethereum, transferring a total of $15,191,730.013 into EOCO’s account. Hon. Ayine said the recovery represented funds that had been siphoned out of Ghana and concealed in virtual assets abroad.
“In the coming days, EOCO will enter into a second phase of this case, which will involve screening both Ghanaian and British victims for restitution,” he announced. He also echoed President John Dramani Mahama’s warning that Ghana would no longer be a safe haven for criminal enterprises targeting the country’s economy and financial systems.
The Attorney-General revealed that the operation has drawn international attention, with law enforcement agencies praising EOCO’s use of non-conviction-based asset recovery to reclaim such a substantial sum. On November 5, 2025, the UK’s National Crime Agency and National Economic Crime Centre formally congratulated EOCO on the achievement.
The Attorney-General, Hon. Ayine, expressed gratitude to EOCO’s leadership and staff, international partners, and Ghana’s judiciary, particularly Justice Gwendolyn Millicent Owusu of the High Court’s Economic and Financial Crime Division, for guiding the process. He noted that details of suspects and victims have been withheld because the case remains active.
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