Ex-MASLOC boss’ lawyers reveal Godfred Dame &trial judge knew her serious illness
Concerns are mounting over the health of former Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, who was extradited from the United States of America (USA) to Ghana on Tuesday, June 9.
The Herald has been informed that the once bubbly pharmacist appeared visibly stressed and frail upon her arrival. Family sources say she has been battling a serious illness for several years and has been undergoing continuous medical treatment and procedures.
A source close to her legal team told The Herald that Mrs Tamakloe-Attionu’s poor health was well documented, with details of her medical condition presented to Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, the Court of Appeal judge who presided over her trial, granted her permission to travel to the United States for medical treatment.
The Herald understands that Justice Asare-Botwe, after satisfying herself regarding the former MASLOC boss’s deteriorating health, directed Mrs Tamakloe-Attionu to collect her passport from the court registry. The passport was released to enable her to travel to the United States for treatment.
Her legal team insists she did not abscond, describing claims that she fled justice as politically motivated and misleading.
According to the source, the circumstances surrounding her departure were fully known to the court, Justice Asare-Botwe and the prosecution team led by the then Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame. The source maintained that these facts could easily be verified from court records.
Those who claimed she had run away, the source argued, were either ill-informed or engaged in political mischief.
“The people who conducted the trial saw the medical reports, yet they proceeded with the trial in absentia despite knowing she was undergoing medical treatment,” the source said.
“Sedi wasn’t well. She left this country ill. All the misinformation and nonsense people are talking about are simply untrue. She did not just get up and leave. The court saw the medical report, considered the request and allowed her to travel.”
“Sedi did not abscond. Her passport was with the court. An application was made to the court explaining that she needed to travel for medical treatment.”
“She had to renew her US visa before travelling, and that request was granted. So when people put out narratives suggesting that Sedi had absconded, one wonders what exactly they mean.”
“Sedi was given permission by the court to travel. If she had not recovered and had not returned, and the court decided to proceed with a trial in absentia, that was its decision. It was a political trial, and if people have a conscience, they should be concerned.”
Mrs Tamakloe-Attionu arrived in Ghana in a wheelchair and with visibly swollen limbs, raising further concerns about her health condition. Family sources confirmed that she had been unwell prior to her transfer to Ghana.
“Arriving visibly ill with swollen limbs after being extradited from the United States of America, where she had been receiving medical treatment, a family member who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed her condition to the Daily Graphic upon her arrival on Tuesday,” the newspaper reported on its news portal.
Mrs Tamakloe-Attionu was extradited from the United States following a request by the Government of Ghana for her to serve a 10-year prison sentence imposed by the Accra High Court. Officials of the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Prisons Service have since taken her into custody and are making arrangements for her to begin serving her sentence.
She was convicted in absentia in 2024 on multiple offences, including causing financial loss to the state and stealing. The court found that her actions during her tenure as MASLOC Chief Executive between 2013 and 2016 resulted in a loss of nearly GH¢90 million to the state.
Mrs Tamakloe-Attionu arrived at Accra International Airport on Tuesday aboard United Airlines Flight UA996, which landed at approximately 9:01 a.m. after departing from Washington Dulles International Airport at 11:44 a.m. She was immediately taken into custody.
Her return comes as her lawyers have filed comprehensive written submissions before the Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, Accra, urging the appellate court to set aside her conviction and acquit her on all charges. They argue that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt and that the charge sheet on which she was convicted was fundamentally defective.
Justice Asare-Botwe delivered judgment on April 16, 2024, convicting Mrs Tamakloe-Attionu in absentia on several counts.
Her co-accused, Daniel Axim, a former Chief Operating Officer of MASLOC, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with hard labour after being convicted of causing financial loss to the state.
The appeal, Case No. CR 904/2017 is currently before the Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, Accra, with the Republic as respondent. A hearing date is expected to be fixed in due course.
Meanwhile, former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, who is also in the United States, continues to challenge efforts to secure his return to Ghana to face criminal proceedings over allegations that he caused financial losses exceeding GH¢1.4 billion in relation to the Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) contract.
Sources familiar with the process confirmed that upon arrival, Mrs Tamakloe-Attionu was received by security personnel and taken into custody. She was to undergo medical examinations as part of standard procedures before being transferred to begin serving her sentence.
Her return follows a lengthy extradition process initiated after she failed to return to Ghana following a medical trip to the United States.
In 2024, the Accra High Court convicted her in absentia and sentenced her to 10 years’ imprisonment after finding her guilty of multiple offences, including causing financial loss to the state and stealing. The court held that her actions during her tenure as MASLOC Chief Executive between 2013 and 2016 resulted in financial losses of nearly GH¢90 million.
The conviction stemmed from a prolonged legal battle over allegations that she misappropriated and diverted state resources during her tenure at the government-funded microfinance institution.
Mrs Tamakloe-Attionu had initially been granted permission by the High Court in 2021 to travel to the United States for medical treatment while her trial was ongoing. However, she did not return to Ghana to continue participating in the proceedings, prompting the court to continue the trial in her absence.
Following her conviction and sentencing, Ghanaian authorities intensified efforts to secure her return. In 2025, the Mahama administration formally requested her extradition from the United States.
The extradition request was subsequently considered by a United States District Court in Nevada. After reviewing the application and supporting legal documentation submitted by Ghanaian authorities, the court certified the extradition request, paving the way for her return to Ghana to serve the sentence imposed by the court.
Authorities are expected to complete the necessary administrative, security and medical procedures before transferring her into the custody of the Ghana Prisons Service, where she will begin serving the 10-year custodial sentence.
Officials have yet to indicate whether any additional legal proceedings will arise following her return, but her extradition and transfer to prison are not expected to bring closure to a case that has remained in the public spotlight for several years.
The case has been widely cited by anti-corruption advocates as a major test of Ghana’s ability to pursue and secure the return of convicted public officials who leave the country while facing criminal proceedings.
Mrs Tamakloe-Attionu’s extradition is therefore being viewed as a landmark development in international cooperation between Ghanaian and United States authorities in the enforcement of criminal judgments.
Mrs Tamakloe Attionu, who served as MASLOC Chief Executive Officer from November 2013 to January 2017, was arraigned before the Financial Division of the High Court on January 30, 2019, on 78 counts, including conspiracy to steal, stealing, causing financial loss to the state, causing loss to public property, improper payment of public funds, unauthorised commitment resulting in a financial obligation to the government, money laundering, and breaches of the Public Procurement Act.
Her lawyers, led by Enoch Deegbe of Freshfields Law Consult, filed a Notice of Appeal on 9 May 2024, raising nine grounds of appeal. In a written submission filed under a court order dated 10 February 2026, the defence set out a detailed legal case for her acquittal.
Central to the appeal is the argument that the charge sheet used to prosecute her is “incurably defective” and violates Article 19(2)(d) of the 1992 Constitution, which guarantees every accused person the right to be informed in detail of the nature of the offence charged.
The defence argues that the particulars of offence in most counts merely repeat the statutory definition of the offence without specifying the actual acts or omissions allegedly committed by the appellant.
The submission cites a line of Ghanaian Supreme Court and Court of Appeal decisions, including Ernest Thompson & 5 Others, Criminal Appeal No. J3/05/2020, and Osei v The Republic (No. 2) (1971) GLR 449, which established that defective particulars of offence are fatal to a conviction and cannot be cured by evidence.
On the substantive charges of stealing, the defence argues that the prosecution called only seven witnesses, none of whom were beneficiaries of the sensitisation programmes allegedly not carried out, nor regional officers of MASLOC from the affected areas.
The submission contends that the failure to call these material witnesses was fatal to the prosecution’s case. Regarding the GH¢500,000 at the heart of Count One, the most prominent charge, the defence argues that the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mrs Tamakloe Attionu dishonestly appropriated the sum.
It notes that the appellant denied authorship of a key letter of acknowledgement and submits that the trial judge erred in shifting the burden to her to disprove the letter, rather than requiring the prosecution to establish its authenticity, including through forensic examination.
On the vehicle procurement charges, the defence points to cross-examination evidence establishing that not a single cedi had been paid by MASLOC at the time the appellant left office in January 2017 that the contract price was subsequently renegotiated by the incoming management, and that payments were only made in 2018, well after her departure.
The submission argues that it was therefore unreasonable for the trial court to convict her of causing financial loss to the state in relation to a transaction whose financial consequences materialised entirely after she had left office.
On the ex gratia payments, evidence from the prosecution’s own witness, the Head of Finance of MASLOC, confirmed during cross-examination that the payments were processed by his office, that they were based on proper documentation from the Office of the President and the Human Resources Department, and that he personally found nothing untoward in the documents before authorising payment.
The United States extradited Mrs Tamakloe Attionu to Ghana following her conviction on more than 70 corruption-related charges involving the embezzlement of more than US$6 million in public funds.
