Alima Mahama had earlier denied allegations of wrongdoing by Okudzeto Ablakwa
On Monday, May 26, 2025, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, closed down Ghana's Embassy in Washington, DC, following allegations of corrupt practices that allegedly resulted in more than $19 million being taken from the state.
The closure followed allegations of corruption involving some embassy staff after an audit found that a local staff member, together with accomplices within the Washington, DC, mission, had allegedly collected unapproved fees through an unauthorised link embedded on the embassy’s official website.
The individual in question was also alleged to have diverted funds from visa and passport application processes to a privately owned company he had secretly established, using it as a conduit to embezzle public funds. The alleged practice reportedly persisted for five years.
A forensic report commissioned by the minister into the scandal has reportedly been completed.
According to details of the report published by the Public Accountability and Integrity Commission (PAIC), the structure of the website used for consular services, including visa issuance and passport processing, was altered through website manipulation, external platforms and additional charges embedded in the application process.
The report indicated that applicants who accessed the embassy’s official website were redirected to privately controlled platforms, where they were required to pay $29.75 per application for the return of their passports or visas.
The details also showed that the expected or actual cost of postage averaged $10.10, meaning each applicant paid nearly $20 above the cost of the service.
“These arrangements enabled the collection of dispatch/mailing fees and application support service charges from applicants,” part of the forensic audit report stated.
It was also stated in the report that the largest component of the $19.3 million in alleged illicit fees charged came from mailing and dispatch charges.
“The forensic analysis of visa and passport processing activities at the Embassy of Ghana in Washington, D.C., identified irregular financial transactions related to dispatch/mailing charges between 2019 and 2025; application support services between 2021 and 2025; extra merchant fees for online payments between 2020 and 2025; as well as transactions involving Fred Kwarteng & STEFRANN LLC between 2019 and 2020,” the report said.
The report also showed, based on data from the embassy’s website on the total number of transactions, that applicants paid more than $4 million in alleged unauthorised mailing fees.
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“In addition to mailing charges, applicants were required to pay application support service fees through the unapproved external platforms to which they were redirected. These fees were set at $67 for passport applications and $76.78 for visa applications. The audit indicates that these services were presented as necessary for completing applications, even though they were not part of officially approved government charges,” part of the report read.
The report also identified Fred Kwarteng, an Information Technology Officer at the embassy, as the alleged mastermind behind the scheme. It said he created and operated external platforms, including TravelGhana.Net and GhanaPV.org.
It named some of the entities allegedly associated with the scheme, including Ghana Travel Consult, Secure Data Centre LLC, Travel Global and MFG Technology.
The report indicated that websites created by Kwarteng “redirected applicants from the Embassy’s website to pay fees for postage and application support services. Applicants were charged $29.75 for return postage and additional support service fees through the platform,” the report stated.
The report also implicated some senior officials at the embassy, including Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Hajia Alima Mahama; Joseph Ngminebayihi, who served as Minister (Consular) from 2017 to 2021; and his successor, Amidu Mohammed Karande, who served from 2021 to 2025.
According to the report, Alima Mahama approved a contract formalising the outsourcing of dispatch services to entities linked to the system.
“Her Excellency Alima Mahama served as Ambassador and Head of Mission from 2021 to 2024. As Ambassador and Head of Mission, H.E. Alima Mahama exercised ultimate supervisory and financial authority over the Embassy’s operations. She signed the General Contract for Services between the Embassy and Travel Ghana / Secure Data Centre, thereby formalising the outsourcing of passport and visa dispatch functions to a related party, with unauthorised fees charged to applicants. During her tenure, the Mission faced scrutiny over banking compliance, exposure to related-party transactions, and weaknesses in governance controls,” the report said.
Alima Mahama had earlier denied any wrongdoing in connection with the allegations raised by Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa over operations at Ghana’s Embassy in Washington, DC.
The former Ghanaian Ambassador to the United States disputed the figures cited by Mr Ablakwa regarding the operations of Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC), a private company operated by former embassy staffer Fred Kwarteng. She maintained that the company had a valid contract with the embassy and rejected claims that the arrangement had resulted in financial loss to the state.
Read the full report below
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