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The Nevada Southern Detention Centre in the United States has confirmed the detention of the former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, to Citi News.
An officer at the centre confirmed this in a telephone interview with Citi News on Friday, January 16.
This comes after media reports indicated that her detention was false following a statement signed by Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Emmanuel Victor Smith, and dated Thursday, January 15, 2026, which noted that Tamakloe-Attionu was arrested by the United States Marshals on January 6, 2026.
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The officer told Citi News that the former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) was sent to the detention centre on January 7th but could not confirm the reason for her arrest or the date for any possible release.
Background
Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu was in April 2024 sentenced in absentia to 10 years’ imprisonment with hard labour after an Accra High Court found her guilty on 78 counts, including causing financial loss to the state, stealing, conspiracy to steal, money laundering and breaches of the Public Procurement Act.
Her co-accused, former MASLOC Chief Operating Officer Daniel Axim, was also convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with hard labour.
The offences were committed between 2013 and 2016 and involved the misappropriation of funds meant for MASLOC operations. The trial, which began in 2019, saw the prosecution call six witnesses to establish its case.
Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu was tried in absentia after she failed to return to Ghana while on permission from the court to seek medical treatment abroad. Daniel Axim, however, appeared in court and testified but did not call any witnesses.
Among the offences established by the court was the withdrawal of GH¢500,000 as a loan to Obaatampa Savings and Loans Company. Although the amount was later refunded after the institution declined a proposed 24 per cent interest rate, the court found that the refunded sum was not properly accounted for in MASLOC’s books.
The court also found that more than GH¢1.7 million allocated for a sensitisation exercise was misappropriated. MASLOC was expected to pay GH¢20 to each of 85,300 beneficiaries, but evidence showed that only GH¢1,300 was used for the intended purpose.
In addition, only GH¢579,800 out of GH¢1.4 million meant to support victims of the Kantamanso fire disaster was disbursed, with the remaining funds unlawfully appropriated.
The case further revealed inflated procurement costs involving vehicles and Samsung mobile phones, with payments exceeding prevailing market prices despite the items being purchased in bulk.
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