The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has announced it will resume criminal proceedings against former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and others, following a Supreme Court ruling that clarified the OSP’s constitutional authority to prosecute. Trials had been halted since April 2026.
The resumption comes despite a blistering ruling from a U.S. immigration judge, who on June 15, 2026, granted Ofori-Atta permanent residency status after finding that Ghana’s OSP had failed to produce “a shred of persuasive evidence” of criminal wrongdoing.
Presiding over a contested hearing in Annandale, Virginia, Immigration Judge David Gardey reviewed the OSP’s 200-page affidavit and over 70 criminal charges filed against Ofori-Atta in Ghana.
He found them lacking in credible facts, describing them as “conclusory allegations” with no reliable evidence of corruption or personal enrichment.
The judge also cited interpol’s deletion of a Red Notice against Ofori-Atta in February 2026, which the Commission for the Control of Files deemed “predominantly political”.
A KPMG government-commissioned review that found inefficiencies but no criminal conduct, and the U.S. government’s silence on an extradition request, which the judge interpreted as further evidence that the case lacked merit.
Ofori-Atta’s legal team argued the OSP case was a politically motivated witch-hunt, pointing out that charges were filed the day after Interpol suspended its Red Notice.
The judge ultimately ruled that Ofori-Atta, a cancer patient with decades of U.S. ties and a U.S. citizen son, had established that he was “not credibly involved in any kind of criminal wrongdoing” and granted his adjustment of status.
In a statement issued July 21, the OSP pushed back, insisting that the U.S. immigration ruling has no bearing on Ghana’s ongoing criminal case.
The office clarified that it is not a party to U.S. immigration proceedings and that its focus remains on extradition and domestic prosecution.
The OSP stressed that three separate processes are at play, U.S. immigration, extradition, and the Ghanaian criminal trial, and that only Ghanaian courts can determine Ofori-Atta’s guilt.
It reiterated that a valid arrest warrant remains in effect and that Ofori-Atta “remains a fugitive from justice in Ghana,” required to appear before the High Court in Accra to answer the charges.
“Criminal proceedings in Ghana shall continue in accordance with applicable law,” the OSP stated, “whether or not Mr. Ofori-Atta is present in Ghana.”
