The Office of the Attorney General has formally charged the Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, with three criminal offences arising from allegations of financial misconduct connected to his professional dealings with SIC Life Savings and Loans Company Limited.
The prosecution has accused the legislator of conspiracy to commit a crime, intentionally causing financial loss to a public body and money laundering in connection with a transaction involving approximately GH¢9.85 million belonging to SIC Life.
The charges were lodged before the High Court in Accra on October 3, 2026, as the State intensified its prosecution of the opposition lawmaker following his surrender to the Economic and Organised Crime Office.
The case has consequently moved beyond the stage of investigation and into formal criminal proceedings, with the prosecution now required to establish its allegations before the court while Mr Awuah remains entitled to the constitutional presumption of innocence.
According to the particulars contained in the charge sheet, the State alleges that Mr Awuah, while acting as legal counsel for SIC Life, entered into an alleged conspiracy with the company’s then Managing Director in 2024 which resulted in the purported dissipation of GH¢9.85 million belonging to the financial institution.
The second allegation accuses the legislator of intentionally causing SIC Life to incur a financial loss of GH¢9.85 million during the execution of a commercial transaction.
The third charge concerns an alleged transfer of GH¢1 million to the then Managing Director of SIC Life. Prosecutors contend that Mr Awuah knew the money had been obtained through criminal conduct and transferred it with the intention of helping the recipient avoid the legal consequences associated with an alleged offence.
The prosecution’s case originates from a debt recovery assignment undertaken by the law firm of which Mr Awuah is Senior Partner.
Sarkodie Baffour Awuah and Partners was engaged by SIC Life in May 2020 to recover GH¢6.3 million which the company claimed was owed by Equity Savings and Loans Limited.
Under the agreement between the parties, the law firm was entitled to professional fees equivalent to 15 percent of the principal amount being recovered, in addition to one percent intended to cover expenses associated with the recovery process.
The dispute subsequently proceeded before the High Court’s Commercial Division, which in July 2022 entered summary judgment in favour of SIC Life against Equity Savings and Loans.
The judgment initially placed the amount owed at approximately GH¢10.86 million.
As efforts to enforce the judgment continued, a 31.93 acre parcel of land belonging to Equity at Adamorobe and Oyibi was attached in December 2023 for the purpose of satisfying the judgment debt.
The prosecution says the circumstances surrounding the property and its eventual sale form a central part of the allegations against Mr Awuah.
A revised judgment dated May 28, 2024 subsequently increased the amount owed to GH¢14.85 million after interest and costs were taken into account. The attached property had been assigned a reserve value of GH¢25 million.
However, according to the State’s account, Equity purportedly sold the property to Eco Swiss Investment Limited on March 14, 2024 for GH¢21.76 million while the property remained subject to the attachment.
Investigators further allege that Eco Swiss Investment Limited had not yet been incorporated at the time it purportedly acquired the property.
The prosecution consequently maintains that Mr Awuah played a significant role in facilitating the transaction and the subsequent settlement arrangement.
By July 2024, Eco Swiss had reportedly paid only GH¢5 million towards the purchase price and had also filed a notice challenging the attachment of the property. The legal challenge subsequently stalled the planned auction.
It was against this background that SIC Life, Equity and Eco Swiss entered into Terms of Settlement on July 18, 2024.
Under the arrangement, SIC Life agreed to accept GH¢5 million from Eco Swiss as full and final settlement of the revised judgment debt, which stood at GH¢14.85 million.
The State alleges that the settlement arrangement additionally provided for the payment of 15 percent of the original judgment debt to Mr Awuah and his law firm as professional fees. The amount involved was approximately GH¢2.2 million.
The settlement also required Eco Swiss to pay GH¢1 million in auctioneer’s fees.
According to the prosecution, the then Managing Director of SIC Life signed the settlement arrangement in alleged concert with Mr Awuah, while investigators reportedly found no documentary evidence showing that the transaction had received the necessary prior approval.
The alleged transfer of GH¢1 million to the former Managing Director subsequently became another significant element of the State’s case.
The charge sheet states that after receiving the purported professional fees, Mr Awuah issued a cheque for GH¢1 million to the former SIC Life Managing Director on November 11, 2024.
The prosecution contends that the payment represented almost half of the professional fee allegedly received by the lawyer and has questioned the purpose for which the money was transferred.
Investigators further claim that Mr Awuah has not provided an explanation for the purpose of the GH¢1 million payment.
The allegations have emerged amid an increasingly contentious confrontation between the Manhyia South MP and EOCO over attempts to secure his attendance for questioning.
Mr Awuah voluntarily surrendered himself to EOCO on October 1, 2026, following a High Court warrant issued on September 30 authorising his arrest.
The legislator spent the night in custody as investigators proceeded with the case, with arrangements subsequently made for his appearance before the court.
The filing of the criminal charges on October 3 has now formally placed the allegations before the High Court’s Specialised Jurisdiction Division in Accra, where the prosecution will be required to present evidence in support of its case.
The development has also attracted concern from Parliament, with Speaker Alban Bagbin calling for restraint and fairness in the use of coercive powers against a sitting legislator.
The Speaker’s intervention has added another dimension to a case that has already generated considerable political and institutional debate, particularly over the relationship between Parliament, law enforcement authorities and the judiciary.
Mr Awuah is expected to appear before the High Court’s Specialised Jurisdiction Division, where the court will consider the charges and any application for bail.
For now, the allegations contained in the charge sheet remain accusations that have not been established by evidence at trial. Mr Awuah has not been convicted of any of the offences and remains entitled to the fundamental legal presumption that he is innocent unless the prosecution proves his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
