An investigator with the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), Frank Marshall Cromwell, has told the High Court that investigations revealed that the wealth allegedly acquired by former National Signals Bureau (NSB) Director-General, Kwabena Adu Boahene, could not be reconciled with his known income.
Cromwell, the fourth prosecution witness (PW4) in the ongoing GHS49.1 million cyber security procurement trial, testified before the High Court in Accra on Wednesday, presided over by Justice Francis Abangabuna Achibonga.
According to the witness, salary records obtained from the National Security Council showed that Adu Boahene earned an average monthly salary of GHS5,000 in 2017, GHS6,000 in 2018, and GHS7,000 in 2019.
Comparing those earnings with the assets identified during investigations, Cromwell said EOCO found it “strange” that Adu Boahene and his wife, Angela Adjei Boateng, jointly owned numerous properties.
“In the course of our investigations, we identified 11 properties belonging to them. Comparing these properties with A1’s salary from 2017 to 2020, we found it strange that A1 and A2 owned these properties,” he told the court.
The investigator further testified that investigations into Angela Adjei Boateng’s employment history showed she had only undertaken National Service between 2012 and 2013 before joining Advantage Solutions in 2018.
“Apart from being a director of Advantage Solutions, she was also a director of companies belonging to herself and A1. On record, there was no other employment history for A2,” Cromwell said.
He added that EOCO was unable to establish any legitimate link between the couple’s declared income and the wealth they had accumulated.
Led in evidence by Deputy Attorney-General Justice Srem-Sai, Cromwell identified court-approved freezing orders covering properties allegedly owned by the accused.
The orders, issued by EOCO in April 2025, covered seven properties at Mayfair Gardens Estate, a 27-unit apartment development at Oyarifa known as Belsize Park, and another property at Dorchester Heights in Asokore Mampong.
The witness said intelligence gathered by EOCO led investigators to the properties.
During a search conducted on March 21, 2025, in the presence of the accused and their lawyers, investigators confirmed the ownership of seven properties at Mayfair Gardens Estate.
EOCO subsequently obtained payment receipts from the estate’s management, which, according to Cromwell, showed that one payment of GHS1.566 million made in April 2020 corresponded with funds traced from BNC Communications Bureau Ltd through Advantage Solutions to the estate.
He added that investigators also established that subsequent property payments were made through Advantage Solutions and Vertex Solutions, companies allegedly linked to the accused.
Cromwell testified that within two months of the first deposits into the BNC Communications Bureau Ltd account in 2020, UMB Bank filed a Suspicious Transaction Report after detecting irregularities.
He further told the court that in March 2023, Adu Boahene and his wife instructed the bank to close the account and transfer the remaining balance to an Advantage Solutions account.
The witness also tendered a letter from the Ghana Audit Service dated May 2, 2025, which he said indicated that Adu Boahene had not declared his assets to the Auditor General.
On the issue of the cyber defence system at the centre of the case, Cromwell said EOCO’s investigations found no evidence that the National Signals Bureau had received the system Adu Boahene claimed was procured from ISC Holdings.
He also referred to an inventory submitted by the NSB to the Attorney-General, which, according to him, did not include the alleged cyber defence system.
The witness told the court that although approximately GHS9 million was transferred to ISC Holdings, the remaining funds from the GHS49.1 million were transferred to companies allegedly linked to the accused, including Advantage Solutions.
He further referred to a memorandum submitted by Adu Boahene through his lawyer, Samuel Atta Akyea, in which the accused sought to explain how the GHS49.1 million had been utilised, listing expenditures such as “special operations,” Members of Parliament allowances and “stability of the nation.”
However, Cromwell told the court that EOCO’s investigations did not support those explanations.
According to him, investigators found that much of the remaining funds were channelled to companies associated with the accused, while some monies were allegedly withdrawn and used for private projects, including the Dorchester property development.
“Our conclusion was that those special operations listed by A1 as expenditure were not supported by our findings,” Cromwell told the court.
The trial continues.
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