The High Court Adentan on Thursday, 19th March 2026, ordered the
unfreezing of bank accounts belonging to Sesi-Edem Company Limited, delivering a decisive ruling that
vindicates Gabriel Tanko Kwamigah-Atokple, founder of the company, and clarifies the limits of the
Economic and Organised Crime Office’s (EOCO) investigative powers.
The ruling comes after a petition filed by JG Resources Ltd triggered EOCO’s intervention, resulting in
the freezing of Sesi-Edem’s accounts on November 20, 2025, and December 17, 2025, before an ex
parte order on January 30, 2026 confirmed the freeze. In its decision, the Court held that EOCO acted
outside its statutory mandate and abused its powers in freezing the company’s accounts, bringing clarity
to a matter that had attracted considerable public attention in recent weeks.
It held that the dispute between Sesi-Edem and JG Resources Ltd arose from a private commercial
agreement that involved no fraud or money laundering. The Court emphasised that the matter was
purely contractual and therefore outside EOCO’s statutory remit. Consequently, EOCO’s investigation
and the freezing of the company’s accounts were ultra vires and legally unsustainable.
The Court observed that performance under the Sale and Purchase Agreement was ongoing, and that
the contractual delivery period had not yet expired. Sesi-Edem, therefore, was not even in breach of
contract. The Court held that any disputes over delivery schedules are civil matters and must be
resolved by the civil courts.
On regulatory compliance, the Court confirmed that Sesi-Edem was fully authorised to trade in gold at
the time of the transaction. The company operated under directives issued by the Ghana Gold Board
during the transition to the current regulatory regime, which permitted licensed dealers to continue
trading. The Court concluded that any representations made by the company regarding its licensing
status were accurate and lawful.
The Court strongly condemned EOCO for serious misconduct. The agency failed to get judicial approval
for its freezing order of 20th November 2025 within the 14 days required by law. Instead, EOCO re
issued the order on 17th December 2025 without telling the Court about the first order and then sought
confirmation using the ex parte procedure, ensuring that Sesi-Edem would not have a chance to
respond. The High Court ruled that the re-issued order was invalid, making it clear that the extended
freezing of the company’s accounts was completely unlawful and an abuse of EOCO’s powers.
The ruling makes it clear that private parties cannot weaponize state investigative powers to settle
commercial disagreements, and enforcement agencies like EOCO must operate strictly within their
legal mandate. The petition lodged by JG Resources Ltd, which set this chain of events in motion, has
been firmly rejected as baseless.
