US Embassy $19.3M Scandal: Forensic Audit Reportedly Implicates Ex-Ambassador Alima Mahama
- A forensic audit into Ghana's Embassy in Washington, DC flagged a five-year scheme involving inflated and unapproved consular fees
- Auditors identified IT Officer Fred Kwarteng as the primary operator of private external portals used to collect unauthorised charges from applicants
- Former Ambassador Alima Mahama faces allegations of supervisory failure after signing a contract that formalised the disputed outsourcing arrangement
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A forensic audit into financial irregularities at Ghana's Embassy in Washington, DC has directly implicated former Ambassador Hajia Alima Mahama in an alleged $19.3 million scandal involving years of unauthorised fees collected from passport and visa applicants.
Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa commissioned the audit after the embassy was shut down in May 2025.
Source: UGC
The Public Accountability and Integrity Commission, which conducted the investigation, uncovered a scheme spanning five years in which consular applicants were systematically directed away from official platforms to private external websites where they were charged fees that had never been sanctioned.
How the scheme allegedly operated
According to the audit, official web infrastructure was manipulated to redirect applicants to private portals.
Passport applicants were charged $67 and visa applicants $76.78 in unapproved service fees.
A return postage charge of $29.75 was also levied on applicants, nearly $20 above the actual cost, generating over $4 million in unauthorised mailing revenues alone.
The audit named IT Officer Fred Kwarteng as the central figure behind the operation of these external portals.
Alima Mahama's role under scrutiny
According to a publication sighted on GhanaWeb, the report cited Alima Mahama for supervisory failure and for giving formal legitimacy to the arrangement.
"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," the report stated.
Mahama has disputed the allegations. She previously denied any wrongdoing, maintaining that the contractor operated under a valid agreement and that no financial loss was caused to the state.
Ablakwa says ECOCO will question Alima Mahama
Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa had accused former Ghana Ambassador to the US, Hajia Alima Mahama, of enabling corruption.
Ablakwa alleged that Alima Mahama had attempted to undermine the ministry’s investigations and downplay the magnitude of the corruption uncovered.
The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) had taken up the case, with the former ambassador set to be held accountable for her actions.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
