The Head of Legal and Prosecution at the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), Leo Antony Siamah, has appealed to the public to exercise patience with the agency, highlighting the complex and time-consuming nature of investigating financial crimes.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Upfront programme on Thursday, 26 June, during a discussion on Ghana’s anti-corruption efforts, Mr Siamah stressed that asset recovery and financial investigations are frequently misunderstood by the public, despite their intricate nature.
“One of the challenges we face in our approach to asset recovery is the public’s understanding of exactly what we do at EOCO,” he said.
According to him, financial crime investigations typically involve tracing large volumes of transactions and data that require careful analysis, often extending the time needed to build strong cases.
“When we take up these investigative cases, we must bear in mind that these are complex financial crimes,” Mr Siamah explained. “It takes a very long period just to follow money trails and establish or attribute the stolen assets to the perpetrator.”
He added, “You are also looking at analysing volumes of materials gathered during investigations. There are times you receive piles of bank statements from just one individual, and it can take you a month to analyse and trace the movement of funds.”
Mr Siamah stressed that greater public understanding would help reduce pressure on EOCO and allow investigators the space and time needed to carry out thorough work.
“If the public understands that these kinds of investigations are complex and take a long time, that would ease a lot of pressure on us in doing our work,” he noted.
He also underlined the importance of international cooperation in tracing and recovering assets, particularly through the “mutual legal assistance regime,” which involves collaboration with foreign authorities.
“It’s not only about analysis. We also rely on mutual legal assistance with countries outside Ghana to facilitate asset tracing and tracking,” he said. “This process can take up to a year or two just to receive feedback.”
Mr Siamah concluded by emphasising the need for enhanced public education to raise awareness about EOCO’s role and the broader fight against financial crime.
“There is a lot more we can do, especially on the educational front, to help the public understand the realities of financial investigations,” he said.
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