Wia dis foto come from, CHARLES NII ARMAH MENSAH/FACEBOOK
Di economic and organized crime office for Ghana (Eoco) don seize one luxury car from ogbonge dancehall artiste Charles Nii Armah Mensah wey many pipo sabi as Shatta Wale.
Dis na afta di Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and di United States Justice Department ask di Ghana agency to retrieve di car.
Inside one statement on Tuesday wey oga for Eoco confam to BBC News Pidgin, dem say dem don carry out di “retrieval of one 2019 Lamborghini Urus wey di FBI tok say na proceeds from ogbonge criminal enterprise.”
According to di crime agency, dem bin link dis criminal enterprise to one Ghanaian Nana Kwabena Amuah wey don currently dey inside jail for di US as im dey serve 86 months for several financial crimes for di US.
“We bin seize di car from Charles Nii Armah known aka Shatta Wale from im house for Trassaco during one lawful search.”
Wia dis foto come from, ERNEST ANKOAMH/GETTY IMAGES
Di dancehall artiste bin vex on top im social media wey im dey ask why di security officers bin carry guns during di operation.
“To bring guns to my house na uncalled for,” di musician bin write for Facebook.
Im also don call out di director for Eoco wey im add say, “di president no put you inside dat office to humiliate di citizens.”
Shatta Wale also don accuse di Eoco boss of abuse of power.
But for one response to di musician im rant, di economic and organized crime office clarify say, “na standard safety protocol say officers for di surveillance and asset recovery unit go carry weapons as dem dey for operation for dia own safety.”
Di law enforcement agency bin add say dem bin seize di car for “civil manner without any kasala.”
Di Ghanaian musician according to Eoco, beg di officers say make dem no put di car seizure mata on top social media sake of im brand.
“Im no want di publicity sake of di vehicle na ogbonge part of im brand wey to see officers driving di car from im house go scata im brand,” Eoco explain.
Dem now allow Shatta Wale to surrender di vehicle by imsef wia e don dey for Eoco custody now.
Di FBI and di US justice department go send formal mutual legal assistance (MLA) to di Ghana govment to return di vehicle to di US “as part of Nana Kwabena Amuah im $4.7m restitution.”
“Di musician and one former senior officer for di national signals bureau (nsb) na pipo of interest wey we go invite dem to assist wit further investigations.”
Wia dis foto come from, NIPAH DENNIS/GETTY IMAGES
Background of di tori
For 2024, US court bin sentence one woman from San Antonio – Shimea Maret McDonald to 80 months for federal prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering and aggravated identity theft.
According to di justice department, she conspire wit Nana Kwabena Amuah to launder proceeds wey dem get from business email compromise scams – wey bin dey target businesses and municipal entities.
“In total, di court records show say 70 businesses and individuals fall victim to di business email compromise scheme, wey 40 of dis victims suffer financial losses dem neva fit recover,” di justice department bin explain inside one press statement.
Dem bin tiff di identities of additional 24 victims na so dem sentence McDonald im co-defendant Nana Kwabena Amuah for November 2023 to 86 months for prison wey dem order say make im pay $4.7m for restitution.
Under di federal law, “McDonald get to serve 85 percent of her prison sentence, wey as dem release dem, McDonald and Nana Kwabena Amuah go dey under supervision of di US probation office for three years,” di justice department explain inside one press release for 4 January 2024.
For 1 July, di FBI bin extradite one popular Ghanaian businessman Dada Joe Remix to di US to face charges of wire and romance fraud.
Di diplomatic security service agents and di US embassy for Ghana bin work wit di FBI to secure im extradition.
Eight odas don dey face extradition ova similar charges wey include money laundering.
For May dis year, Ghanaian socialite and influencer Mona Montrage wey pipo sabi as ‘Mona 4 reall’ wey dem jail for 2024 for conspiracy to launder money from romance scam, return to di country afta she serve her term.
Dem jail her for one year after she bin admit say she collect proceeds from multiple romance scams for di US.
Mona since she don return to Ghana tok say she dey pick her life na so she don release song wey bin dey tok about “resilience and determination to move on from her past.”