Ghana’s anti-corruption watchdog has filed criminal charges against a former chief executive of the National Petroleum Authority and nine others in connection with a sprawling extortion and money laundering scheme that allegedly diverted more than 280 million Ghanaian cedis (approximately $24 million) from the country’s petroleum sector.
In a statement Thursday, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) said Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, who led the NPA until 2024, faces 25 counts alongside six other individuals and three companies. The charges include extortion by a public officer, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering, all under Ghana’s Criminal Offences and Anti-Money Laundering Acts.
Prosecutors say that between 2022 and December 2024, Abdul-Hamid—working in concert with Jacob Kwamina Amuah, then the coordinator of the Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund, and Wendy Newman, an NPA staffer—illegally extracted payments from oil marketing companies and petroleum transporters. According to investigators, the payments, totaling GH¢280.5 million, were levied under the guise of regulatory oversight but lacked any legal foundation.
The OSP alleges that Amuah personally delivered GH¢24 million to Abdul-Hamid and directed the transfer of GH¢227.2 million through Newman. The funds were subsequently funneled through three private companies—Kel Logistics, Kings Energy, and Propnest Ltd.—to conceal their origin. The companies allegedly laundered the proceeds through real estate acquisitions, the construction of fuel stations, and purchases of oil transport trucks.
“These companies were deliberately established and operated to disguise illicit funds as legitimate business earnings,” the OSP said in the statement.
Among the accused is Osei Tutu Adjei, a director at Kel Logistics, who remains at large. The remaining suspects have been taken into custody and are expected to appear before Ghana’s High Court for arraignment in the coming days.
The OSP, established to combat high-level corruption, reiterated its commitment to pursue economic crimes “without fear or favor,” a pledge that comes amid growing public scrutiny of the nation’s energy sector and concerns over regulatory abuse.
This case marks one of the largest prosecutions by the OSP since its inception and could have significant implications for governance and transparency in Ghana’s vital oil and gas industry.
