The Economic and Organised Crime Office is a specialised agency established to monitor and investigate economic and organised crime and on the authority of the Attorney-General prosecute these offences to recover the proceeds of crime and provide for related matters.

The mission of the Office is to monitor, prevent, investigate, prosecute and recover proceeds of economic and organised crime.

EOCO is the acronym for Economic and Organised Crime Office.

6^th September 2010 by an Act of Parliament- the Economic and Organised Crime Act, 2010 (Act 804). The Office replaced the erstwhile Serious Fraud Office (SFO) which came into existence in 1993.

EOCO is headed by an Executive Director, who is appointed by the President of the Republic of Ghana. The Executive Director holds Office on the terms and conditions specified in the letter of appointment.

Apart from the Office’s mandate to investigate and prosecute on the authority of the Attorney General “serious offences” leading to financial and economic loss to the Republic or any State entity or institution in which the State has a financial interest”, the extended powers of the Office allows it to also deal with offences involving:

• Money Laundering
• Human trafficking
• Prohibited Cyber Activity
• Tax Fraud
• Other serious offences including Participation in organised crime, Terrorism and Terrorist financing, Sexual Exploitation, Illicit Trafficking in narcotics, Extortion, Forgery, Counterfeiting and Piracy of products, Insider Trading and Market Manipulation, Murder and grievous bodily harm, armed robbery or theft where they are predicate offences and other similar offences or prohibited activities punishable with not less than 12 months imprisonment.

The Office also spearheads the recovery of proceeds of crime, monitors activities connected to its mandate and detects correlative crimes. It also takes reasonable measures to prevent the commission of these crimes as well as disseminate crime information gathered to appropriate authorities. Further, it cooperates with international agencies in furtherance of its mandate and performs any other functions connected with its mandate.

A docket is built and prosecuted by the Legal and Prosecutions Unit of the Office or is forwarded to the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice for advice and possible prosecution.

The Governing Board of EOCO and ministerial oversight of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Republic of Ghana.

Your call, letter, email or Whatsapp message will be very helpful if it includes all details of the suspected economic and organised crime as well as any relevant information or evidence that you know or possess.

We will take a record of the details of your disclosure to start assessing the information. Depending on the information you give us, we may need to contact you again to get further details of the allegations.

Do not be alarmed if you do not hear from us immediately. This does not mean that the information was not important. We value your contribution very much.

Due to the sensitive nature of criminal investigations, we may not (for operational reasons or because of legal restrictions) be able to discuss details of the actions taken based on the information you give us. We will eventually contact you on the next steps.

We realise that you may like to know what has happened as a result of the information you give us. We may be able to keep you informed, however, there may be occasions where the sensitive nature of the investigations may not allow us or we may be restricted by law from discussing the case.

Further, complex investigations can take considerable time and so it may appear to you that no action has been taken after your reported to us. The process of investigating and evidence gathering needs to be adequately planned and executed carefully. We will update you when the time is conducive.

EOCO collaborates with other public institutions like the Ghana Police Service, the National Investigations Bureau, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Ghana Revenue Authority, the Bank of Ghana, the Financial Intelligence Centre, the Office of the Registrar of Companies and the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department.

The Office also collaborates with International Agencies like the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) of Nigeria, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) of the United States of America, the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the UK, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) among others.

EOCO is a specialised agency established to monitor and investigate economic and organised crimes and prosecute these offences on the authority of the Attorney General and recover the proceeds of crime as well as provide for related matters.

OSP is also a specialised agency that investigates corruption and corruption related offences and on the authority of the Attorney General, prosecute these offences and provide for related matters.

CHRAJ on the other hand was established to investigate complaints of violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms, injustice and corruption: abuse of power and unfair treatment of persons by public officers in the exercise of their duties, with power to seek remedy in respect of such acts or omissions and provide for other related purposes.

No, the work of EOCO does not constitute a usurpation or duplication of any institution’s mandate. EOCO is a specialised entity established to deal with economic and organised crimes. The Office works to complement the efforts of all other anti-corruption and law enforcement organisations in Ghana.

EOCO is interested in cases that may result in financial or economic loss to Ghana and also tarnish the image or reputation of the country. The government invests a lot of resources to attract investors into the country. Therefore, any action by any person which is likely to deter potential investors and thereby disrupt the investment drive of the Government of Ghana may trigger the mandate of EOCO.

EOCO is accessible to all. The Head Office of EOCO is located on the Barnes Road adjacent the Old Parliament House in Accra. There are also Offices in all the sixteen (16) Regions of Ghana, including Tema and Accra Regional Offices. The Office also has presence on some social media platforms (@EOCOghana) and has a vibrant website.

There is no fixed time-frame within which a case can be fully investigated by EOCO. The Office however endeavours to complete all investigations within six (6) months or less depending on the complexity of a case.

Depending on the nature of offence and evidence gathered, a suspect may be discharged or made to face punitive administrative sanctions like fines, revocation of licenses, suspensions or restrictions under the auspices of the relevant authorities. They may also be arraigned before a competent Court for prosecution and confiscation of proceeds of crime.

EOCO embarks on comprehensive education and sensitisation drives through its Public Affairs Unit to educate the public on its operations and emerging crime trends. Sensitization is done at markets places, places of worship and also in schools for students at the basic, senior and tertiary levels all over the country. The Office also has a website and social media platforms which have relevant material for the information of the public.

• Non-cooperation of witnesses who could give information that would facilitate investigations.
• Unreliable addresses, identity cards and telephone numbers that make tracing of suspects difficult/ impossible. Among others.

The Office will make use of all avenues to the extent permitted by law to ensure the safety of persons who volunteer information.

EOCO is an operationally independent agency under the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice of Ghana.

No, EOCO is part of the public service with a clear legal mandate. The functions of the Office does not allow political influence.

The law within which EOCO operates allows it to investigate the private sector. The criteria for handling cases by EOCO rests on whether or not the criminal acts of the persons or companies have occasioned financial or economic loss to the State or the conduct constitutes a predicate offence for Money Laundering.

EOCO has good working relationship with the Ghana Police Service. By the multi-faceted nature of our work, we collaborate with them to fight economic and organised crimes.

• National Security Council Secretariat
• National Investigations Bureau (NIB)
• Ghana Police Service
• Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC)
• Other Law Enforcement Agencies
• All Financial and Non-Financial Institutions
• Civil Society Organisations
• The Media
• The General Public.