Ghana Embassy in Washington Audit Uncovers $19.4 Million in Irregular Consular Fees Over 6 Years
- A forensic audit found that visa and passport applicants at the Washington embassy were charged through unauthorised external platforms for six years
- An IT officer at the embassy created private websites linked to official systems, redirecting applicants and collecting fees well above the actual cost of services
- Senior officials, including a former ambassador who signed a contract formalising the arrangement, have been named in the audit report
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A forensic audit of Ghana's Embassy in Washington, D.C., has uncovered nearly $19.4 million in irregular financial transactions tied to consular services processed between 2019 and 2025, with findings implicating embassy staff and senior diplomatic officials.
The Auditor-General's report found that applicants seeking visas and passports through the embassy were systematically redirected from official government platforms to privately controlled external websites, where they were charged fees that went well beyond the cost of services rendered.
Source: UGC
Under Ghana's Public Financial Management framework and Foreign Service Regulations, all consular fees are required to be transparent, officially approved, and properly accounted for through designated systems, including the Electronic Consular Information Management System (eCIMS) and AppTrack.
How the Scheme Operated
Pledge Against Corruption indicated that the audit established that the embassy's official website was altered at the source code level to redirect applicants to third-party platforms.
Once redirected, applicants were charged $29.75 per application for the return delivery of their documents. The audit found the actual average postage cost was $10.10, meaning each applicant paid nearly $20 above the real cost of delivery.
Fred Kwarteng, an Information Technology Officer at the embassy, was identified in the report as the individual who created and operated these external platforms, including TravelGhana.Net and GhanaPV.org, along with associated entities such as Ghana Travel Consult, Secure Data Centre LLC, Travel Global, and MFG Technology.
The platforms replicated the appearance of official government systems and used official symbols, giving applicants the impression they were using authorised government services.
More than 170,000 visa mailing transactions and thousands of passport dispatches were recorded during the period under review.
The audit calculated that applicants paid a combined $6,945,554 in mailing and dispatch fees.
After deducting estimated actual postage costs of $2,357,986.40, the excess from mailing charges alone came to $4,587,567.60.
Additional fees were also collected through unapproved application support service charges, set at $67 for passport applications and $76.78 for visa applications.
Merchant fees were further imposed through the Square payment platform, which operated without any formal contract.
Named Officials and Recommended Sanctions
The report names Joseph Ngminebayihi, who served as Minister (Consular) from 2017 to 2021, as having overseen consular operations during the early stages of third-party involvement.
His successor, Amidu Mohammed Karande, held the role from 2021 to 2025 while the external platforms continued to operate within official workflows.
Former Ambassador Alima Mahama, who led the mission from 2021 to 2024, is identified as having signed the general contract for services between the embassy and Travel Ghana/Secure Data Center, formally outsourcing passport and visa dispatch functions to entities linked to the scheme.
The Auditor-General has recommended that the irregular funds be recovered from those identified as key actors and that the officials be sanctioned under the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038).
The findings follow the temporary closure of the embassy in 2025 after Ghanaian and American authorities were alerted to irregularities in its operations.
Man paid $1.5m in sale of Ghana property in Nigeria
In April, YEN.com.gh reported on the arrest of one Bright Mensah Bonsu, who is said to have received $1.5 million and signed documents purporting to sell a prime diplomatic property belonging to Ghana’s High Commission in Nigeria.
Bonsu was arrested by Ghanaian security operatives, according to the minister.
Ablakwa said Bonsu describes himself as a special aide to former Ghana High Commissioner to Nigeria, the late Alhaji Rashid Bawa.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
