- Charge Suspects or Lift Restrictions, Occupyghana Tells EOCO Over PDS Investigation
OccupyGhana has accused Ghana’s economic-crime and security agencies of allowing investigations to become a form of punishment, citing prolonged account freezes, steep bail conditions and travel restrictions imposed on people who have not been charged.
The civil society organisation called on the Economic and Organised Crime Office, the Bureau of National Intelligence and other investigative bodies exercising police powers to operate within constitutional and statutory limits.
“Investigation must not become punishment,” OccupyGhana said in a statement. “The fight against corruption must be relentless, but it must also be lawful.”
Its intervention follows mounting concern about how investigative agencies have exercised powers to arrest suspects, freeze assets and impose bail and reporting conditions in high-profile financial cases.
The organisation focused particularly on the investigation involving Power Distribution Services Ghana Ltd, where it said about 66 accounts belonging to the company and individuals associated with it had remained frozen since April 2026.
Two PDS officials were initially granted agency-imposed bail of GH¢50mn each after being detained by the BNI, according to the statement. The conditions were increased to GH¢100mn each within a week, despite no charge having been filed and no reported change in the suspected offences.
OccupyGhana said the officials and two lawyers connected to the matter had been required to report to EOCO three times a week since May, amounting to about 60 appearances each.
Five months after the restrictions were imposed, no charges had been filed, it said.
“These are serious allegations and should be properly investigated,” OccupyGhana said. “But the seriousness of an allegation cannot, by itself, justify indefinite restrictions, excessive bail or departure from constitutional safeguards.”
The organisation also raised concerns about the treatment of lawyers who accompanied their clients to the BNI.
According to the statement, two lawyers were identified as “persons of interest”, detained overnight and prevented from representing their clients. They were subsequently granted bail of GH¢50mn each with two sureties.
The lawyers alleged that they were questioned about professional fees, while their personal and law-firm accounts were frozen. They further claimed that partners of their firm were placed on a no-fly watchlist.
OccupyGhana said any action against lawyers simply for representing clients would undermine a constitutional protection that applies to everyone, regardless of the allegation under investigation.
“Investigative agencies must not punish lawyers for representing their clients,” the group said. “Court orders and constitutional rights must be respected without exception.”
The PDS matter concerns the alleged transfer of GH¢850mn from a CalBank account that the state says belonged to the Electricity Company of Ghana.
EOCO has cited a Financial Intelligence Centre petition alleging fraud involving insurance guarantees and transfers to third parties. It has also referred to suspicious transactions, substantial withdrawals and the possibility that assets could be dissipated.
PDS disputes aspects of the allegations. In an application for judicial review filed on August 27, it argued that the FIC petition named two directors rather than the company, questioned the criminal basis for the freezes and said an arbitral tribunal had rejected the guarantee allegation.
The company also said the payments being investigated were made to identifiable creditors and that ECG had not alleged that a crime had been committed.
The state’s formal response to the judicial review application was not yet public, according to OccupyGhana’s statement.
The pressure group stressed that it was not taking a position on whether an offence had occurred, arguing that this was a matter for the courts.
“Whether an offence has been committed is for the courts to determine,” it said. “Our concern is due process, which protects every person under investigation, regardless of party, status or means.”
OccupyGhana said the PDS case formed part of a broader pattern involving account freezes, agency-imposed bail and restrictions on suspects who had not been formally charged.
It cited the case of Sesi-Edem Company Ltd, whose accounts were frozen by EOCO following a petition arising from a gold-supply contract.
In March 2026, the High Court at Adentan revoked the freeze and ordered that the accounts be released. According to OccupyGhana, the court found that the dispute was contractual, that EOCO had not established fraud or money laundering and that the agency had acted outside its mandate.
Eleven days later, EOCO declared the company’s directors wanted. The High Court subsequently restrained the agency from maintaining the declaration or interfering with their liberties pending the determination of the substantive case.
OccupyGhana also referred to the treatment of former National Food and Buffer Stock Company chief executive Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba.
The statement said BNI officers arrested Mr Aludiba at the airport in July, days after the High Court permitted him to travel abroad for medical treatment. He was later released after four days in custody.
The Attorney-General has alleged that Mr Aludiba attempted to use false means to access a frozen account, an allegation he denies.
These cases, OccupyGhana argued, raise questions about the legal and evidential threshold required before an account may be frozen and how long restrictions can continue without charges.
The organisation also questioned whether investigative agencies have the power to impose or increase bail conditions independently of the courts.
A case filed at the Supreme Court in May seeks a declaration that security agencies lack the authority to set bail conditions without judicial involvement.
Bail requirements imposed by EOCO and the BNI in recent financial cases have reportedly ranged from GH¢10mn to GH¢150mn.
The Ghana Bar Association has separately expressed concern about excessive bail, maintaining that conditions should be reasonable, proportionate and consistent with the presumption of innocence.
OccupyGhana called on investigative agencies to charge and prosecute suspects where sufficient evidence exists.
Where the evidence is insufficient, it said account freezes, reporting conditions, travel restrictions and agency-imposed bail should be lifted without delay.
“Where there is sufficient evidence, suspects should be charged and prosecuted,” it said. “Where there is not, freezes, bail conditions, reporting requirements and travel restrictions should be lifted without delay.”
The group also urged the courts to determine bail conditions, arguing that any agency seeking to keep a suspect in custody must bring that person before a court within the constitutionally prescribed period.
Under Article 14 of the Constitution, an arrested person who is not released must be brought before a court within 48 hours.
OccupyGhana further called for compliance with statutory limits governing frozen property. Section 38 of the EOCO Act provides that a freezing order lapses after 12 months unless a court determines a later date. It also requires the release of frozen property where the person under investigation is not charged within 12 months of the investigation beginning.
The group asked Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee and the Defence and Interior Committee to scrutinise how EOCO and the BNI exercise their powers.
It also called on the Attorney-General, as the minister responsible for EOCO, to review the use of freezing orders, agency-imposed bail and reporting conditions and respond publicly to outstanding petitions and correspondence.
OccupyGhana said adherence to due process strengthens rather than obstructs the fight against corruption.
“When those limits are ignored, cases can collapse in court, and the public loses twice: first the money, and then the case,” it said.
The larger question raised by the statement is whether an investigation can remain constitutionally neutral when its restrictions produce many of the practical consequences of punishment before a court has determined guilt.
For EOCO and the BNI, the challenge is therefore not simply to pursue suspected economic crime aggressively. It is to demonstrate that the state can investigate forcefully without allowing its considerable powers to outrun the law.
