GH¢49.1m cybersecurity software theft case: Money was spent on accused persons, families, and associates

The prosecution has urged the High Court to dismiss a submission of no case to answer by former National Signals Bureau Director-General Kwabena Adu-Boahene, his wife Angela Adjei Boateng, and their company, Advantage Solutions Limited, arguing that evidence presented at trial warrants a defense.

The prosecution alleges that GH¢49.1 million, drawn from funds intended for the Bureau of National Communications (BNC), ended up in a privately owned bank account and was spent on the accused persons, their families, friends, and associates, rather than on official transactions.

Kwabena Adu-Boahene and his wife, Angela Adjei Boateng, have been charged with stealing, conspiracy to steal, defrauding by false pretenses, willfully causing financial loss to the State, using public office for profit, obtaining public property by false statements, and money laundering, including conspiracy to commit money laundering.

In the prosecution’s affidavit in opposition to the submission of no case, Deputy Attorney General Dr. Justice Srem-Sai contends that the evidence presented during the trial provides sufficient grounds for the court to require them to open their defense.

The submission, filed pursuant to an order of the High Court on September 8, 2026, sets out the prosecution’s account of how three cheques, totaling GH¢49.1 million, were allegedly diverted into an account associated with a private company.

Three Cheques, One Private Account

According to the prosecution, Adu-Boahene, who was then Director of the Bureau of National Communications, deposited a cheque for GH¢27.1 million on February 6, 2020, into an account at Universal Merchant Bank (UMB).

The account was held in the name of BNC Communications Limited – Operations. However, the prosecution says the account-opening documents identify the owner as BNC Communications Bureau Limited, a private company it refers to in its submission as the “Private BNC.”

The Republic alleges that two additional cheques, for GH¢1 million and GH¢21 million, were deposited into the same account, bringing the total to GH¢49.1 million.

The prosecution argues that although the cheques were intended for “BNC – Operations,” the money ended up in an account belonging to the private company.

It further states that the company was owned and controlled by the accused persons, with Advantage Solutions Limited as its sole shareholder, Adu-Boahene and his wife as directors, and Boateng identified as the sole beneficial owner of Advantage Solutions Limited.

The Disputed Cybersecurity System

A central issue in the prosecution’s case is the alleged purchase of a cyber defense system.

The Republic says that on February 6, 2020, Adu-Boahene requested the transfer of GH¢9,537,500 from the private account, explaining that the money was intended to purchase a cyber defense system.

According to the prosecution, he presented a sale contract and an invoice as supporting documents, after which UMB approved the transfer.

However, the prosecution says the National Signals Bureau has denied having a contract with ISC Holdings Limited in January 2020 for the supply of such a system.

It also relies on testimony from the bureau’s Director of Finance, identified in the submission as the second prosecution witness, who said the invoice number cited by the accused persons in support of the transaction differed from the bureau’s records.

The prosecution’s witness told the court that the bureau’s corresponding invoice was dated March 30, 2020, and related to the purchase of a digitized investigative audit system—not a cyber defense system.

The prosecution further points to the bureau’s inventory, which it says shows that no such cyber defense system was purchased or delivered to the agency. Two prosecution witnesses, according to the filing, described the sale contract and invoice relied on by the accused persons as not genuine.

The Republic also alleges that the GH¢49.1 million was spent on the accused persons and people connected to them, with the account balance reduced to GH¢683,609.65 by August 3, 2020.

These are allegations advanced by the prosecution in its court filing and have not, in the document, been established as final judicial findings.

Adu-Boahene, Boateng, and Advantage Solutions Limited were arraigned on April 30, 2025.