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The Nevada Southern Detention Centre in the United States has confirmed to Citi News that former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, is currently in its custody.
An officer at the facility confirmed her detention in a telephone interview with Citi News on Friday, January 16.
The confirmation follows earlier media reports which cast doubt on claims of her detention. Those reports emerged after a statement signed by Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Emmanuel Victor Smith, and dated Thursday, January 15, 2026, indicated that Tamakloe-Attionu was arrested by the United States Marshals on January 6, 2026.
According to the detention centre officer, the former MASLOC CEO was transferred to the facility on January 7. However, the officer declined to disclose the reason for her arrest or provide details on any possible release date.
Background
Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu was in April 2024 sentenced in absentia to 10 years’ imprisonment with hard labour after an Accra High Court found her guilty on 78 counts, including causing financial loss to the state, stealing, conspiracy to steal, money laundering, and violations of the Public Procurement Act.
Her co-accused, former MASLOC Chief Operating Officer Daniel Axim, was also convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with hard labour.
The offences, committed between 2013 and 2016, involved the misappropriation of funds allocated for MASLOC operations. The trial, which commenced in 2019, saw the prosecution call six witnesses to establish its case.
Tamakloe-Attionu was tried in absentia after failing to return to Ghana while on court-approved medical leave abroad. Daniel Axim, however, appeared in court, testified in his defence, and called no witnesses.
Among the offences established by the court was the withdrawal of GH¢500,000 as a loan to Obaatampa Savings and Loans Company. Although the amount was later refunded after the institution rejected a proposed 24 percent interest rate, the court ruled that the funds were not properly accounted for in MASLOC’s records.
The court also found that over GH¢1.7 million allocated for a sensitisation exercise was misappropriated. While MASLOC was expected to pay GH¢20 each to 85,300 beneficiaries, evidence showed that only GH¢1,300 was used for the intended purpose.
Additionally, only GH¢579,800 out of GH¢1.4 million earmarked for victims of the Kantamanso fire disaster was disbursed, with the remaining funds unlawfully appropriated.
The case further revealed inflated procurement costs involving the purchase of vehicles and Samsung mobile phones, with payments made above prevailing market prices despite bulk procurement.
