Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, has revealed he has been working with American authorities regarding former finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
According to the Attorney General, he has some foreign investigators who are investigating Ofori-Atta’s offshore dealings.
The Attorney General announced that he had been investigating Ofori-Atta long before the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) made his announcement.
Speaking on JoyNews Newsfile on Saturday, January 10, 2026, Dr Ayine stated, “I didn’t make this public, but I started investigating Ofori-Atta. In fact, in his case, I’m doing it with some foreign investigators who are tracking all the offshore dealings and so on. We are also doing our own investigations here. They are inconclusive, as we speak. I mean, we have not come to any conclusion”.
“So, I started working with the Americans in respect of Ofori-Atta long before OSP came up with the announcement. I started working with them, and I want Ghanaians to know that he just didn’t overstay his visa,” he clarified.
The AG explained, “The visa was actually revoked. So, it’s not that Ofori-Atta overstayed. So, in July, the American State Department revoked his visa, and they gave him up to November 29 to leave the United States. He did not. And then, that is how come that they decided they were going to now pursue him, and arrest him. Actually, the arrest was supposed to occur on January 4th [2026], and they did not do so, but on Tuesday, January 6, 2026, they apprehended him in the Virginia area and took him into custody”.
“It’s not exactly about immigration. It was revoked. The visa was revoked. I am telling you this on authority,” he stated.
Additionally, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine announced that embattled former Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, will appear before an immigration judge on January 20, 2025.
Dr Ayine detailed, “In this current matter, he will appear before an immigration judge on January 20th [2026]. He has a right to appeal that decision to a district court. From the district court, it can go to a circuit court of appeals.
Then from there to the United States Supreme Court. That is potentially the legal pathway to the determination as to whether or not he should be taken from America. If he doesn’t self-deport, this is what is going to happen.
“In the extradition case, again, a district court will hear the proceedings and make a determination as to whether to extradite him. If he’s not happy about that, he can go to a circuit court of appeal and to the United States of America,” he explained.
Also, the Attorney General shared details of a confidential conversation he had with Ken Ofori-Atta’s high-profile US lawyers.
He revealed, “John Ashcroft, the former Attorney General of the United States of America, called me and said he was the one representing Ken Ofori-Atta in the matter, but his concerns and reason for calling me were for me to assure him that when Ken is returned to Ghana, he’ll get a fair trial.
“And I assured him of the fact that under this government and in accordance with Article 19 of the constitution, his right to a fair trial is guaranteed. Ken Ofori-Atta is not a person who will come here, and we’re going to treat him very shabbily and so on and so forth. He will be accorded due process of law. His fair trial rights will be guaranteed, and so on,” he disclosed.
Dr Ayine added, “So, I talked with John Ashcroft, including the lawyer who granted the interview [Enayat Qasimi], so there were three of them; three lawyers who spoke to me via Zoom on that day when they were expressing concerns. So, at that point in time, it was confidential. I could not mention John Ashcroft as his lawyer”.
“But I was simply saying that when you take the fact that he has these top lawyers coming to court in America to defend him, it is not going to be a day’s work to bring him home,” he explained.