Cecilia Dapaah saga: EOCO should have seized cash immediately OSP released it – Kpebu

Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has observed that the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) should have seized all the money the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) released to the former Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Dapaah.

The Accra High Court ordered the Office of the Special Prosecutor to return all monies seized from the embattled former Sanitation Minister.

Furthermore, the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, said at a press conference in Accra on January 25 that the OSP had discontinued the case and was referring the same to EOCO for continued investigation and further action.

But upon a request for advice by EOCO on the matter, the Attorney General’s office, in a letter dated April 25, 2024 said it found that the OSP did not submit the report on its collaborative investigation to EOCO.

Additionally, the office noted the OSP has not responded to EOCO’s request for its findings.

According to the Attorney General’s office, the docket presented to EOCO only contains the OSP’s letter transmitting the docket, the diary of action, statements taken during the investigation, and letters written by the OSP to other institutions like the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and banks for inquiries.

“In the absence of the identification of any criminality associated with the properties retrieved from the suspects, the OSP’s referral to EOCO for investigations to be conducted into money laundering is without basis,” portions of the A-G’s advisory to EOCO read.

Speaking on The Key Points on Saturday, Martin Kpebu reiterated that the EOCO’s office should have been present to receive all the monies at the time the OSP announced it was returning the seized monies to the former minister.

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“Once he [Kissi Agyebeng] withdrew [the application for confirmation of the seizure], then the judge said return the money within 72 hours, as soon as that was done…I said on Saturday, January 27, that EOCO be sure that at the time Kissi Agyebeng is handing over the money, you are on-site to also collect.

Because you are now going to money laundering investigations.”

“Because OSP based his application on corruption and corruption-related offences, and later Mr.

So EOCO was going to take over to do money laundering,” he stated.

The human rights lawyer has also called on the Attorney-General’s office to withdraw its advisory letter to EOCO, asking EOCO not to probe the case further.

He maintained that it was wrong for the A-G to issue such advice to EOCO.