Top Microfinance chief extradited from the US over $6m corruption case

Sedina Tamakloe, a former chief executive of Ghana’s Microfinance and Small Loans Centre, has been extradited from the United States of America to Ghana to begin serving a ten-year prison sentence.

A transfer is the first between the two countries in 16years.

Attionu, who served as chief executive of MASLOC from 2013 to 2016, left Ghana in 2019 after obtaining permission from the court to travel abroad for medical treatment, but did not return to continue her trial.

Attionu had been convicted and sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment with hard labour on multiple charges, including causing financial loss to the state, stealing, conspiracy, money laundering and procurement-related offences in April 2024.

The charges spanned 72 counts in total, including 25 counts of stealing, 9 counts of conspiracy to steal, 20 counts of wilfully causing financial loss to the state, 11 counts of conspiracy to commit the same offence, 3 counts of causing loss to public property, and 4 counts of money laundering.

She was arrested by United States Marshals on 6 January 2026 and held at the Nevada Southern Detention Centre in Pahrump, Nevada.

Subsequently, a US Court in Nevada certified her extradition following a hearing at which the court considered affidavits from Ghanaian state prosecutors and investigators, as well as a declaration from a United States State Department legal adviser.

The United States Mission in Ghana confirmed the extradition on Tuesday, describing it as a demonstration of “a strong U.S.-Ghana law enforcement partnership” and “a shared commitment to accountability.”

Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed her arrival and said the extradition underscored a joint commitment to ensuring no one was beyond the reach of justice.

The extradition is the first from the United States to Ghana since 2009, ending a 16-year gap in such transfers between the two countries.