US extradites former MASLOC CEO Sedina Attionu to Ghana to start serving her 10-year jail sentence
The United States has extradited former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, to Ghana following her conviction on more than 70 corruption-related charges involving the embezzlement of over six million dollars in public funds.
The American Embassy in Accra announced the extradition on Tuesday, June 9, 2026.
The extradition is the first from the United States to Ghana since 2009, ending a 16-year gap in such transfers between the two countries.
Ms Tamakloe Attionu served as Chief Executive Officer of MASLOC from 2013 to 2016. She left Ghana in 2019 after obtaining permission from the court to travel abroad for a medical check-up but did not return to continue with her trial.
In April 2024, she was convicted and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment with hard labour on multiple charges, including causing financial loss to the state, stealing, conspiracy, money laundering and procurement-related offences.
The conviction covered 72 counts. They included 25 counts of stealing, nine counts of conspiracy to steal, 20 counts of wilfully causing financial loss to the state, 11 counts of conspiracy to cause financial loss to the state, three counts of causing loss to public property and four counts of money laundering. The offences were committed between 2013 and 2016.
Ghana's Ambassador to the United States, Mr Victor Smith, confirmed on January 15, 2026, that Ms Tamakloe Attionu had been arrested by US Marshals on January 6, 2026. He said she was being held at the Nevada Southern Detention Centre in Pahrump, Nevada.
A United States District Court in Nevada later certified her extradition. The court ruled that the extradition treaty between the United States and Ghana remained valid and enforceable and that there was probable cause to believe she had committed the offences for which Ghana requested her return.
Her co-accused, Daniel Axim, a former Chief Operating Officer of MASLOC, was sentenced to five years' imprisonment with hard labour after being convicted of causing a financial loss of GH¢90 million to the state.
The American Embassy described the extradition as an example of cooperation between law enforcement authorities in Ghana and the United States and said it reflected a shared effort to uphold accountability.
