The United States has handed over former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, to Ghana following her conviction on more than 70 corruption-related offences tied to the alleged misappropriation of over six million dollars in public funds.
The transfer was confirmed on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, by the American Embassy in Accra, marking a significant development in cross-border enforcement cooperation.
The move also ends a 16-year pause in extraditions from the United States to Ghana, with the last recorded transfer occurring in 2009.
Ms Tamakloe Attionu led Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) between 2013 and 2016. She left Ghana in 2019 after securing court approval to travel abroad for medical reasons but failed to return, stalling her ongoing trial.
In April 2024, she was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment with hard labour on multiple counts, including stealing, conspiracy, money laundering, procurement breaches, and causing financial loss to the state.
The judgment covered 72 counts in total. These included 25 charges of stealing, nine counts of conspiracy to steal, 20 counts of wilfully causing financial loss to the state, 11 counts of conspiracy related to causing financial loss, three counts involving loss to public property, and four counts of money laundering. The alleged offences were committed between 2013 and 2016.
According to Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Victor Smith, she was arrested by United States Marshals Service on January 6, 2026, and detained at the Nevada Southern Detention Centre in Pahrump, Nevada.
A federal court in Nevada later approved her extradition, ruling that the treaty between United States and Ghana remained valid and enforceable. The court also found sufficient probable cause that she committed the offences cited in Ghana’s extradition request.
Her co-accused, Daniel Axim, who previously served as Chief Operating Officer of MASLOC, was earlier convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with hard labour for causing a financial loss of GH¢90 million to the state.
The American Embassy in Accra described the extradition as a demonstration of strengthened cooperation between Ghanaian and US law enforcement agencies, noting that it reflects a shared commitment to accountability and anti-corruption enforcement.
