- As of the end of June 2023, Ghana’s Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) has collected GH 79 million in criminal profits, surpassing its GH 60 million goal for the year. The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) recovered money from companies and people who underreported their taxes, and other income that was unlawfully amassed at the cost of government agencies like the Gaming Commission and the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) was also included in the profits of crime. By June 2028, the five-year strategy plan for EOCO is to collect and manage GH350 million in criminal profits.
- The office’s mandate requires it to look into significant offenses such tax fraud, financial damage to the state, human trafficking, and forbidden online behavior. The EOCO Act, 2010 (Act 804), Section 3 gives the agency the authority to take action to collect the profits of such offences.
- The Executive Director of EOCO, Commissioner of Police (COP) Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, indicated that some of the accomplishments of the office could not be measured monetarily during a discussion with editors and media professionals in Accra.
- She cited the office’s accomplishments in fighting and preventing crime, including saving and reuniting human trafficking victims with their families, raising awareness of practices that could lead people to fall into the hands of criminal organizations that engage in economic and organized crime, and working with other law enforcement agencies.
- Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, president of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), applauded EOCO management for choosing to work with the media to fulfill the goals of its five-year strategic plan. He asked EOCO to assist in educating GJA members in investigative journalism so they may hone their skills and broaden their knowledge in the effort to combat crime in the nation.