The Court of Appeal has acquitted and discharged former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Ms Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, overturning her conviction and 10-year prison sentence.
In a judgment delivered on Thursday, the appellate court held that the prosecution failed to prove its case against the former MASLOC boss beyond reasonable doubt, setting aside the convictions entered against her by the High Court.
The decision followed an appeal by Ms Tamakloe-Attionu challenging her conviction as well as the legality of her trial and sentencing in absentia.
Her lawyers argued that the charges preferred against her were fundamentally defective and that the prosecution had failed to establish the offences beyond reasonable doubt.
Ms Tamakloe-Attionu was extradited from the United States and returned to Ghana on June 9, 2026. She subsequently began serving her 10-year prison sentence at the Nsawam Medium Security Female Prison on June 24, 2026.
She had travelled to the United States in 2021 with the permission of the High Court to seek medical treatment while her trial was ongoing but failed to return to continue the proceedings.
In 2024, the Accra High Court convicted her on multiple counts, including causing financial loss to the state and stealing, in connection with the alleged misappropriation and diversion of state resources during her tenure as Chief Executive Officer of MASLOC.
The Court of Appeal, however, overturned the conviction, ruling that the prosecution had failed to establish its case to the standard required in criminal proceedings.
The ruling brings to an end the criminal proceedings against the former MASLOC Chief Executive, with the appellate court ordering that she be acquitted and discharged.
