Parliament has confirmed that the Member of Parliament for Asante Akyem North, Kwame Ohene Frimpong, has been detained at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
A statement issued by the Clerk to Parliament, Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror, said the matter had been brought to the attention of the House and is being handled by parliamentary leadership.
According to the statement, the Rt Hon Speaker and leadership of Parliament are in direct contact with Ghana’s diplomatic mission in The Hague to obtain more information about the incident.
“The public will be duly informed appropriately on this matter,” the statement added.
No further details were provided on the reasons for the MP’s detention.
Background and Recent Reports
Persons close to the MP allege that he left Ghana on Saturday evening and arrived in Amsterdam on Sunday morning, where he was reportedly detained by security officials before completing immigration formalities.
In the recent past, Kwame Ohene Frimpong has denied allegations linking him to suspected financial crimes and human trafficking-related offences.
The claims suggest that the MP had previously been under investigation by US law enforcement agencies over alleged financial crimes connected to an African restaurant and supermarket business in Chicago several years ago. The business is alleged to have been used as a channel for moving fraudulent funds linked to individuals currently serving prison sentences in the United States.
Reports further claim that the FBI monitored the activities for years after an alleged raid on the premises, during which several Ghanaian-British women, reportedly sponsored from the United Kingdom to the United States, were arrested in connection with multiple bank accounts used to transfer funds.
When the allegations first surfaced, the MP denied them strongly, accusing certain individuals of spreading lies and wishing him ill.
“There are people who ignore all the positive things I have been doing. Instead, they focus on spreading lies and wishing me ill,” he had stated.
Editor:
Obiri-Yeboah
