The Herald’s investigation into claims surrounding the detention of Ghana’s former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has uncovered a number of intriguing details, some of which Ghanaians will have to contend with when he appears in court on January 20, to challenge his detention and potential extradition.

Among the findings is information that, in November last year, U.S. authorities collected Mr Ofori-Atta’s biometric data as part of a process to renew his visa and extend his stay. Also emerging is a contradiction between the Attorney-General and his deputy over whether Mr Ofori-Atta’s U.S. visa was revoked in June 2025 or July 2025.

This development raises serious questions about the accuracy of claims by the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, and his deputy, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, that Mr Ofori-Atta’s detention at the Caroline Detention Facility in Virginia resulted from a visa revocation in mid-2025.

U.S. immigration experts argue that it would be highly unusual, if not impossible, for the U.S. State Department or ICE to revoke a visa in July 2025 and still permit the individual to remain in the country for nearly seven months, until his eventual detention last week, as confirmed on ICE’s official website.

In October last year, the Attorney-General’s Department engaged in virtual exchanges with the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), led by Mr Kissi Agyabeng, regarding the documents required to process an extradition request for Mr Ofori-Atta’s return to Ghana to face criminal prosecution.

Dr Srem-Sai had disclosed that several formal requests had been made to the OSP for full access to the investigative docket on Mr Ofori-Atta, stressing that the documentation was essential for Ghana to comply with international legal procedures.

“We have sent several formal requests to the Office of the Special Prosecutor to release the full docket on the matter. That is the procedural step required to initiate an extradition request,” Dr Srem-Sai said in an interview on GHOne TV.

He went on to explain that without the complete docket, the Attorney-General’s Department could not proceed. “As of now, we don’t have the docket from the OSP. We must present the full case file to the U.S. Embassy in the same way it is done when Ghana extradites individuals to the United States,” he added.

On 20 October 2025, the OSP announced that it intended to transmit the necessary information to the Attorney-General that same week to facilitate the extradition process. “I am aware that the Special Prosecutor is expected to complete and transmit the necessary information to the AG this week,” Mr Sammy Darko, Director of Strategy, Research and Communication at the OSP, told media organisations, including TV3.

However, on 18 December 2025, during the Government Accountability Series at Jubilee House, Dr Ayine announced that his office had already formally transmitted an extradition request for Mr Ofori-Atta and an alleged accomplice, Ernest Darko Kore, to the United States.