The Justice Department said a former head of a Ghanaian small-loans agency, convicted on more than 70 counts after failing to return for trial, was surrendered to Ghanaian authorities to serve a 10-year sentence
The U.S. Justice Department said it has extradited a former Ghanaian official to serve a 10-year prison term in Ghana following her conviction on more than 70 criminal counts tied to the theft and misappropriation of roughly $6 million.
According to the department, Sedina Christine Tamakloe Attionu, 60, also known as “Sedina Sharon Christine Acolatse,” was surrendered to Ghanaian authorities on June 8. The department said she was convicted in Ghana on counts including stealing, conspiracy, causing financial loss to the state, money laundering, and other offenses.
The department said Attionu served as chief executive of Ghana’s Microfinance and Small Loans Centre, or MASLOC — an agency created to provide low-interest loans to small and medium-size businesses — from November 2013 to January 2017. According to the department, she was convicted of repeatedly abusing that position to enrich herself, including by stealing funds remitted to the agency, pocketing public money meant for outreach and disaster relief, using public funds to buy cars and cellphones at inflated prices, and making unearned payments to herself and a co-conspirator.
The department said that after attending part of her trial in Ghana, Attionu received the court’s permission to travel to the United States for medical treatment but never returned. According to the department, the Ghanaian court issued a warrant, found her absence unjustified, and proceeded with the trial, convicting her on all charges and sentencing her to 10 years in prison on April 16, 2024.
The department said Ghana then requested her extradition, and that U.S. authorities arrested her on Jan. 6 in Nevada. According to the department, a U.S. magistrate judge in the District of Nevada certified her extradition on April 9, the Secretary of State authorized her surrender, and the U.S. Marshals Service handed her over to Ghanaian authorities on June 8, completing the extradition.
The department said the case was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada in coordination with its Office of International Affairs, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI’s legal attaché office in Accra, and Ghanaian authorities including the country’s INTERPOL bureau.
