The Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) has identified Assin Fosu in the Central region as a centre for serious organized crimes in the country.
Speaking to the media, the Deputy Head of Legal and Prosecution at EOCO, Leo Anthony Siamah, said the criminals in Assin Fosu specialize in human trafficking and bank fraud.
According to Mr Siamah, one of the biggest challenges in combating these criminal groups is their connection to influential figures, including politicians.
“They have a more structured look. They have about three or four layers in terms of leadership and hierarchy where there is a reporting direction in terms of flowing from the bottom to the top and there is control.
“So you realize that, we bust a ring, we are conducting an investigation and a certain calibre of persons show up. We are talking about people who claim I’m from here, I’m from there. When I say I’m from here, we are talking about maybe politicians, I have this politician’s number. I have this person’s number,” he said.
He added that these syndicates have started using cryptocurrency to launder money into the country.
He stated that some Ghanaians have a form of cryptocurrency which is creating a lot of problems.
“If you are aware too, there is this Bank of Ghana directive that says that anyone or anybody entering through our entry points in the country should declare any amount over ten thousand dollars for instance, that used to be very easy to enforce.
“If you are looking at the cryptocurrency problem where somebody has laundered money in terms of huge amounts of money in his wallet, how are we able to identify what he is holding?” he said in an interview on JoyNews, monitored by The Ghana Report.