Adu Boahene, wife plead not guilty to GHs49m corruption charges

Former Director-General Kwabena Adu Boahene of the National Signals Bureau (NSB) and his spouse, Angela Adjei Boateng, have rejected all allegations in a well-known corruption case involving alleged fraudulent contracts totalling GHS 49 million, or almost $7 million.

The pair was charged with 11 counts, including stealing, money laundering, defrauding the state through false pretences, and deliberately causing financial loss, along with businesswoman Mildred Donkor and Advantage Solutions Limited.
The charges were read during the High Court hearing today, and the accused insisted on their innocence.

• Counts 1-3 (Stealing): Adu Boahene pleaded “Not guilty” to three separate counts of stealing public funds.
• Count 4 (Conspiracy to Steal): Both Adu Boahene and his wife denied collaborating to misappropriate state money.
• Counts 5-6 (Fraud & Financial Loss): The ex-NSB boss rejected accusations of defrauding the state and causing financial loss through a phantom cybersecurity deal with Israeli firm ISC Holdings Limited.
• Count 7 (Using Public Office for Profit): Adu Boahene declared, “Not guilty.”
• Count 8 (Aiding Corruption): His wife also pleaded “Not guilty” to collaborating in the alleged scheme.
• Count 9 (Obtaining Property by False Pretences): Adu Boahene again denied wrongdoing.
• Count 10 (Money laundering contrary to Anti-Money Laundering Act) – Mrs and Mrs Adu Buahene and one Mabel Donkor.

According to the prosecution, Adu Boahene embezzled GHS 49 million from NSB funds between 2020 and 2023 while pretending to buy fictitious cyber defence software. According to investigations, Ghana’s security agencies never received any such systems.

His wife, who is connected to the transactions and a director of Advantage Solutions Limited, is charged with helping to launder the money.
Their former bank employee, Mildred Donkor, is charged with enabling questionable financial transactions.

When Adu-Boahene was still the head of the NSB, he and his wife founded BNC, which was used to buy the security system from ISC Holdings Limited, an Israeli business.

ISC Holdings received an initial payment of GHS 9.5 million, or roughly $1.75 million, but the company did not receive any additional payments.

Subsequent monies were instead misappropriated for private purposes, such as investments and transfers to unidentified individuals.

Using A4 (Advantage Solutions Limited) as a holding company, the court filings claimed that Adu-Boahene, his wife, and Mildred “therefore ran an elaborate criminal enterprise through which the stolen funds were funnelled and laundered for their own benefit.”

According to the documents, A4 received a significant amount of the stolen money as the holding company for a number of subsidiary businesses, including the Private BNC. Its directors and shareholders then used the money to invest in the subsidiaries’ operations, such as buying Treasury bills, real estate, making fertiliser, and renting out luxury cars to VIP clients.

When Mr. Adu Boahene returned from overseas, the National Investigations Bureau (NIB) arrested him at Kotoko International Airport on Thursday, March 20th, in connection with the controversy. However, he was eventually released on bail.

In the meantime, Mr. Adu Boahene and his spouse have sued Attorney General and Justice Minister Dr. Dominic Ayine for defamation due to remarks he made at a press conference on the subject on March 24, 2025.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit claimed that Dr. Ayine’s public statements misrepresented them as criminals and scammers who had embezzled public monies and participated in money laundering.

Along with causing distress, public mockery, and emotional suffering, they said that these claims have seriously harmed their reputations. Their children have apparently been the targets of taunting at school.

A number of complaints are listed in the statement of claim, including:

declaring the plaintiffs to be criminals in public before a judicial decision.
spreading untrue claims on the plaintiffs’ financial transactions and travel history.

disclosing private information in violation of national security legislation.
assessing their guilt through media manipulation and making hasty recommendations for jail time.
The plaintiffs contend that these acts were intended to do the greatest amount of injury to their reputation and were motivated by malice and an abuse of power.
As a result, they are looking for the following reliefs:

exemplary and punitive damages against the defendant for broadcasting and/or publishing extremely rude and defamatory content about the plaintiffs during his news conference on March 24, 2025.

ii. A permanent injunction prohibiting the Defendant from publishing, broadcasting, or causing to be published, broadcast, or otherwise use the aforementioned or comparable words in a way that is defamatory of the Plaintiff.

iii. Expenses, including the professional fees of the lawyer.