Cecilia Dapaah: Reasons behind AG’s advice to EOCO not grounded in law – Kpebu

Private Legal Practitioner Martin Kpebu has rejected the Attorney General’s advice to halt the money laundering probe into former Sanitation Minister Cecilia Dapaah.

Kpebu contends that the AG’s advice lacks a legal basis, labelling it “false and not grounded in law.”

He asserts that the AG’s requirement of a predicate offence for prosecution against Dapaah is “incorrect.”

The Attorney General’s office, on May 1, recommended the Economic and Organized Crime Office not to pursue money laundering investigations against Dapaah.

This recommendation followed the Special Prosecutor’s office’s conclusion that the discovery of over 1 million dollars in Dapaah’s residence was outside its jurisdiction, instead suggesting money laundering inquiries.

Mr Kpebu argued that Dapaah’s inability to account for her wealth warranted the AG’s intervention.

He urged the AG to retract its communication to EOCO.

“The letter is a huge mistake, a faux pas, that was a wrong step because the letter is not grounded in law. The AG is insisting that you need a predicate offence before you can prosecute someone for money laundering, but that is not correct, it’s false, we have changed the law. There’s a new law, for us in Ghana, that says no need for predicate offence.

“Cecilia Dapaah cannot explain her source of money, if you take her to court, she’s guilty. The Attorney General’s letter is so bad that it has to be withdrawn. The AG has to be humble, we all don’t know it all, if the AG has gotten it wrong, he should just accept his mistake. He cannot win every case,” he said on Citi TV’s The Big Issue.

The Attorney General’s review also indicated no findings of corruption against Dapaah by the OSP.

However, the Attorney General’s stance is that money laundering charges hinge on profits from illegal activities.