A number of Ghanaians have made news headlines in the United States for the wrong reasons recently, arguably painting a bad image of Ghana to the rest of the world.
In recent past, the conversations were around Ghanaians who were accused of being involved in romance scams either being arrested in the US or extradited from Ghana to the US.
Now, those conversations have moved politicians who are regarded as the elite class of Ghanaian society, and who have found themselves in the hands of US law enforcement agencies for various legal breaches.
A handful of these Ghanaian politicians have been arrested or are on the run in the US, with at least one at large.
GhanaWeb looks at the details of some of these politicians and the crimes they have been accused of.
Ken Ofori-Atta:
Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghana’s longest-serving Minister of Finance, is one of the notable Ghanaians who is in the grips of US law enforcement agencies.
The former minister was detained by officials of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for allegedly overstaying in the US.
He was reportedly asked to leave the US in November 2025 after his visa was revoked in July 2025 but failed to.
Ghana’s Attorney General, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, has indicated that Ofori-Atta’s visa was revoked at the request of the government of Ghana as part of efforts to get him back to the country to answer to the numerous investigations against him.
He has been formally charged in Ghana with 78 counts of corruption and corruption-related offences by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, in connection with the Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) revenue assurance contract and related matters.
Dr Ayine, who has filed an extradition request for Ofori-Atta, has also disclosed that there are other crimes the former minister is being investigated for, which are even more serious than the SML scandal.
Government files extradition request for Ken Ofori-Atta
Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu:
Former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, is the second Ghanaian politician in the hands of a US law enforcement agency.
She has also been detained by ICE.
Although the reasons for her detention have not been made public, being in the custody of ICE can easily be interpreted as she having related to her immigration status, preferably with her visa.
It is also believed to likely be in relation to an extradition request filed by the government of Ghana after her conviction in 2024.
Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu was sentenced to 10 years in imprisonment on April 16, 2024, for embezzling GH¢3.19 million during her tenure at MASLOC and causing a deliberate financial loss of GH¢90 million to the state.
The former MASLOC boss, together with Daniel Axim, who is also a former Chief Operating Officer of MASLOC, were accused of making unauthorised commitments, resulting in financial obligations totalling GH¢61.74 million for the government.
She was also accused of GH¢22.15 million in public property loss, improper payment of GH¢273,743, and laundering of GH¢3.7 million.
She was tried in absentia after failing to return to the country after the court granted her permission to travel to the United States in 2021 for medical treatment.
See the breakdown of funds Sedina Tamakloe embezzled that led to her 10-year sentence
Valentino Nortey:
The 2024 New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for the Klottey Korle Constituency, Valentino Nortey, has also been detained in the US over a stabbing incident.
The former parliamentary candidate is accused of stabbing his wife, Gilda Nortey, during a domestic incident along Mayfair Drive in Lower Paxton Township in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, January 17, 2026.
He has been charged with attempted homicide, possessing an instrument of crime with intent to use, and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
He has been detained at the Dauphin County Prison after the court denied him bail.
Ernest Darko Akore:
The government of Ghana has also submitted an extradition request for Ernest Akore Darko, the Chef de Cabinet of Ken Ofori-Atta, to the US authorities.
Though the whereabouts of Ernest Akore are unknown, he is believed to have travelled to the US on November 19, 2024, with a ten-year US passport, which is expected to expire on August 4, 2031.
Ernest Akore, together with Ofori-Atta and six others, have been charged with 78 counts of corruption and corruption-related offences by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, in connection with the Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) revenue assurance contract and related matters.
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