Sedina Christine Tamakloe-Attionu
A UNITED STATES Magistrate judge, Daniel J. Albregts of the District of Nevada, has ordered the extradition of former Chief Executive Officer of Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Christine Tamakloe-Attionu to Ghana to serve her 10-year jail term for stealing public funds and other offences.
This followed the court’s finding that the information presented to it by the Ghana government and its US counterpart “is competent evidence to establish probable cause that Attionu committed the crimes with which she is charged and has been convicted.”
The court had rejected all the arguments made on behalf of the fugitive, who has been hiding in the United States since 2021, including the arguments that the offense for which she is being sought after in Ghana are not part of the Extradition Treaty between Ghana and the US.
The court, after considering the evidence before it as well as substantial case law, found that the relevant and applicable treaty provisions found in the Extradition Treaty and United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) between the US and Ghana “are in full force and effect and certification of Attionu’s extradition would not be in violation of the provisions found in 18 U.S.C. § 3184.”
Conviction
A High Court in Accra, presided over by Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, a Justice of the Court of Appeal sitting as an additional High Court judge, in April 2024, convicted and sentenced Tamakloe-Attionu to 10 years’ imprisonment after finding her guilty of causing financial loss to the state.
She was sentenced to a total of 21 years’ imprisonment in hard labour for stealing (10 years), causing financial loss to the state (3 years), causing loss to public property (2 years), improper payment (6 months), unauthorised commitment resulting in a financial obligation for the government (6 months), money laundering (3 years) and contravention of the Public Procurement Act (2 years).
She was also fined a total of GH¢78,000 for the offences and, in default, she will serve another six years in jail.
An interdicted Operations Manager of MASLOC, Daniel Axim, was also sentenced to five (5) years’ imprisonment for the same offence, for his role in the looting of state funds.
The two were found guilty and convicted of all the 78 charges levelled against them by the Office of the Attorney General in 2019 for various criminal acts that led to the state losing a whopping GH¢93,044,134.66.
A five-member Supreme Court panel presided over by Justice Amadu Tango, assisted by Justices Samuel Asiedu, Senyo Dzamefe, Bright Mensah, Ackaah Boafo, on January 14, 2026, granted Daniel Axim bail in the sum of GH¢500,000 pending appeal.
Detention
Madam Tamakloe-Attionu, who has been declared a fugitive by a High Court in 2021, has been hiding in the United States since then.
She was arrested and detained by US Marshals on January 6, 2026, and is being held at the Nevada Southern Detention Center pending legal proceedings to have her extradited to Ghana.
Extradition
Lawyers for Tamakloe-Attionu had argued that the crimes of willfully causing financial loss to the state, conspiracy to willfully cause financial loss to the state, and causing loss to public property are not listed in either the Extradition Treaty or the UNCAC.
She also argued that the alleged conduct for those crimes and for the crime of money laundering is not criminalised in both countries because Ghana requires a lower mens rea (intention or knowledge of wrongdoing) than the United States laws that the government asserts are analogous to these crimes.
The US government opposed this assertion and argued that the offences correspond with Article 3(16) (embezzlement) and Article 3(25) (malicious injury to property) of the Extradition Treaty.
However, the court found that Extradition Treaty and UNCAC between the U.S. and Ghana are in full, hence the “crimes are extraditable,” adding that the “court is not convinced by Attionu’s arguments that the differing mens rea between Ghana’s crimes and their analogues in the United States mean that the crimes are not extraditable.”
The court, after analysing all the facts and arguments before it, concluded that Tamakloe-Attionu’s alleged conduct would be punishable in the United States.
Making a finding on probable cause, the court pointed out that Tamakloe-Attionu did not offer arguments against the case law supporting the conclusion that a conviction is sufficient to support a finding of probable cause.
She also did not argue the fact that her conviction in absentia impacts the weight of the conviction on the court’s probable cause analysis.
“Together, these affidavits and the judgment of conviction are sufficient evidence to convince a person of prudence and caution that crimes were committed and Attionu committed these crimes,” the court added.
The court therefore certified the extradition request presented by the Government of Ghana, clearing the way for Tamakloe-Attionu to be extradited to Ghana to serve her pending 10-year jail term.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak