Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, the former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), is currently in custody at the Nevada Southern Detention Centre in the United States, according to a statement issued by Ghana’s Ambassador to the U.S., Emmanuel Victor Smith, on Thursday, January 15, 2026.
Mrs. Tamakloe-Attionu was apprehended by U.S. Marshals on January 6, 2026, following an extradition request from Ghanaian authorities submitted in July 2024. She now awaits court proceedings that could see her returned to Ghana.
The development comes after Mrs. Tamakloe-Attionu was convicted in April 2024 on 78 counts, including causing financial loss to the state, theft, money laundering, conspiracy, and breaches of the Public Procurement Act. She was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison with hard labour, after failing to return to Ghana from an approved medical trip abroad. Her co-defendant, former MASLOC Chief Operating Officer Daniel Axim, received a five-year sentence with hard labour, having chosen not to call any witnesses in his defence during the trial.
The convictions stemmed from offences committed between 2013 and 2016, where public funds intended for MASLOC programmes were misappropriated. The trial, which began in 2019, heard testimony from six prosecution witnesses and uncovered a series of financial irregularities. These included a GH¢500,000 loan to Obaatampa Savings and Loans Company that was never properly accounted for, and over GH¢1.7 million allocated for a public sensitisation programme that was largely diverted, with only a fraction reaching its intended beneficiaries.
Further investigations revealed that of the GH¢1.4 million set aside to aid victims of the Kantamanso fire outbreak, just GH¢579,800 was actually disbursed, with the rest unlawfully appropriated. The case also exposed inflated procurement costs for vehicles and Samsung mobile phones, with MASLOC paying well above market rates despite bulk purchases.
Mrs. Tamakloe-Attionu remains in U.S. detention as legal proceedings continue, marking a significant chapter in Ghana’s efforts to recover public funds and enforce accountability for financial crimes.
Source: Apexnewsgh.com
