The discovery of official Bank of Ghana (BoG) cash boxes at the center of a major counterfeiting operation at Sapeiman, a suburb of the Ga West Municipality in the Greater Accra Region, has raised serious concerns over potential regulatory failures and the security of Ghana’s financial systems.
The incident has brought to light the alarming possibility of insider involvements in what is being described as one of the most sophisticated criminal operations uncovered in recent years.
During a site inspection, the Director of Special Operations at the National Security Secretariat, Richard Jakpa, confirmed that the recovered money boxes were authentic Bank of Ghana properties.
“This is the reason why I’m serious about this. These are Bank of Ghana boxes. These are the same boxes used to import currency, when we print money outside Ghana, they arrive in boxes like this.
“We brought in Bank of Ghana officials, and they admitted these are their boxes. And you see this ‘RMD’, it means the money that came in was certified as genuine and intact by the Bank of Ghana. This is their own certification,” he said, pointing at one of the boxes in the container.
Jakpa added, “When I asked them, they said ‘yes, it is from their office, they wrote this.’ So I asked, what are your boxes doing in this place?”
The operation, uncovered in February this year, was being conducted under the guise of a modest battery-charging shop located in an abandoned building.
The elderly man running the shop, known locally as the “Battery Doctor,” is suspected of serving as a front for the illegal activities, including the large-scale production of counterfeit currency and fake gold bars.
Authorities seized ten 40-foot containers filled with forged Ghanaian cedi and US dollar notes, along with fake gold-plated metals.
Background:
National Security officers recently intercepted a massive stash of counterfeit US dollars, Ghanaian cedi notes, and suspected gold bars hidden in 12 shipping containers at a warehouse in Sapeiman, Accra.
According to multiple reports on X, two of the containers are still missing, and a manhunt has been launched for suspects, including a ringleader known only as “Alhaji.”
The containers were traced to a warehouse in the Ga South Municipality, where a late-night special operation was conducted following a tip-off.
The counterfeit currencies, primarily bundles of US dollars, were discovered concealed in wooden boxes covered with cement. Additional fake notes were also found in boxes sealed with plywood and layered with charcoal.
In addition to the counterfeit cash, boxes containing metal bars suspected to be gold, along with fake Ghana Army uniforms and boots, were also discovered.
Two of the containers remain unaccounted for and are currently being actively tracked by National Security operatives.
Source: Ghanaweb
