Ghana’s former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, who is wanted at home over corruption allegations, has been detained in the US over issues related to his immigration status, his lawyers said.
Ghana previously requested Ofori-Atta’s extradition, but his lawyers challenged it, saying the allegations against him were politically motivated.
Ofori-Atta left Ghana last year for medical reasons, his legal team said.
On Wednesday, confirming his detention in the US, they said they hoped to resolve the matter “quickly”.
In a statement, Ofori-Atta’s lawyers said their client is “law-abiding” and is in the process of applying to change his immigration status allowing him to stay in the US “past the validity of (his) visa”.
The BBC has contacted ICE for comment.
Ofori-Atta faces several charges related to his tenure under the previous administration, including conspiracy to commit procurement fraud and cause financial loss to the state.
In February, Ghanaian prosecutors declared the former minister a fugitive, saying he had tried to evade investigators. This status was withdrawn when his legal team said he intended to return.
His lawyer Enayat Qasimi previously told the BBC that Ofori-Atta “committed to full compliance with the laws of Ghana and … to answer for anything he did when he was finance minister”.
He was the finance minister from January 2017 to February 2024, when the New Patriotic Party was in power.
It lost the December 2024 election, after John Mahama from the National Democratic Congress became president, promising to crack down on corruption.
Ghana has warm relations with the US, and the two countries cooperate in the repatriation of West African nationals, although it has condemned the actions of the US in Venezuela, which it calls an “invasion”. describing the seizure of its leader Nicolás Maduro as a “kidnapping”.
Additional reporting by Daniel Dadzie