As part of ongoing investigations, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) today conducted searches at the Trassaco residence of Nana Yaw Duodu, also known as Dr. Sledge, and at the East Legon offices of Goldridge Company Limited.
The searches were carried out under warrants issued by the High Court in Accra. Nana Yaw Duodu is under investigation for suspected corruption and corruption-related offenses linked to the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) gold trade programme, which allegedly caused a loss of US$94 million to the State.
The OSP’s Asset Recovery and Management Team seized several items, including luxury vehicles, jewellery, weapons, and documents relating to landed properties.
The investigation centres on a gold-trading arrangement between MIIF and Goldridge Company Limited, which was designed to bolster Ghana’s gold-for-reserves programme and generate additional revenue for the State.
Preliminary findings suggest that the State may have advanced payments of about US$94 million for gold purchases that were not fully delivered, prompting the OSP to launch a corruption probe earlier this year.
In September, the OSP confirmed that Nana Yaw Duodu had been invited for questioning and was later detained after failing to meet bail conditions related to the same case.
The investigation has since widened to include associated transactions, contracts, and property acquisitions tied to the MIIF gold trade initiative. The objective, according to the OSP, is to determine whether public funds were misapplied or misappropriated.
While the OSP did not disclose whether any arrests were made during the latest searches, it noted that the case remains active and falls under its broader mandate to recover proceeds of suspected corruption.
Earlier this year, the OSP launched a broader inquiry into alleged corruption and related offences within the operations of the MIIF, raising concerns about financial mismanagement within the country’s sovereign gold fund.
Addressing the media on February 12, 2025, the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, announced that the probe would review payments connected to several major projects and transactions, including MIIF’s engagements with Agyapa Royalties Limited, the Small-Scale Mining Incubation Programme (SSMIP), the Quarry Value Addition Programme (QVAP), Asante Gold Corporation, ElectroChem Ghana Limited, the Lithium Asset Project, and Gold Asset 2 (Enchi Gold Project), among others.
