The Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) has returned sums of £6,700, GHC2,750 2 Laptop computers and at least 6 mobile phones seized from Hanan Abdul, the former CEO of the Ghana Buffer Stock Company as well as his wife, Hajia Faiza Wuni, and the driver of the couple, who together are standing trial for financial crimes allegedly committed against the state.

Some of the items were seized in the course of investigations in 2025 whilst the money, 1 laptop and 2 mobile phones were seized on 4 July 2026, when Hanan was arrested at the airport, detained for 4 days and prevented from travelling abroad pursuant to a court order granted for medical purposes.

At the last hearing of the case on 29th September, 2026, when the prosecution indicated its readiness to call its first witness, lead counsel for Hanan, Godfred Dame, submitted that the trial could not commence if the items seized were not returned to the accused persons, especially since the mobile phones contained critical pieces of evidence the defence would use in their defence against the case of the prosecution. For that reason, the first accused person has filed a motion to cimpel EOCO to release the items.

"The phones contain information necessary for the conduct of the trial and related to matters that are central to the subject matter of the proceedings. We need them to enable the first accused prepare adequately for his defence, including raising objections to documents to be tendered by the prosecution, in accordance with Article 19(2)(e) and (g) of the 1992 Constitution". said the former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice.

Augustine Obour, Counsel for the second accused Faizal Wuni, also informed the court that his client had requested the release of her electronic gadgets, which he said, would form the basis of his defence.

The prosecution argued that the trial could proceed for the motion to determine whether the accused persons were entitled to the release of the seized items to be determined later.

The trial court presided over by Justice Francis Achibonga, however, agreed with the former Attorney General that the prosecution could not commence its case and call its first witness without first determining the application seeking the release of the phones and other properties of the first accused. The judge said that since counsel for the first accused might need the phones alleged to have been seized by the State to enable him to prepare adequately for the trial in accordance with Article 29(2)(d) and (g) of the Constitution, it was impossible to proceed with the trial when that issue had not been determined.

EOCO, taking a cue from proceedings in court, on Monday, 5th October, 2026, released the items the subject matter of the motion filed by counsel for the first accused, Godfred Yeboah Dame, to the accused persons.

Withdrawal of Charges and Defective charge sheets

The return of the phones is not the first time EOCO has been forced to eat humble pie in the trial of Abdul Wahab Hanan who has been accused of causing financial losswhere he is standing trial agreed with Hanan’s lawyers that the seizure of the phone and cash was unlawful.

Lawyers’ Petition against EOCO’s case

Lawyers for Hanan, Messrs. Dame & Partners petitioned the Executive Director of EOCO Mr. Raymond Archer and the Attorney General Dr. Dominic Ayine to return his clients property which had been unlawfully retained without legal justification.

“On 9th July 2026, when my client reported to EOCO to collect his items, he was handed an empty purse, a wristwatch and his boarding pass. The investigating officer, Frank Cromwell, reportedly informed him that he had no authorisation to release the remaining items, which included two mobile phones and three separate envelopes containing £5,000, £1,700, and GH¢2,750 respectively.”

Mr. Dame further explained that the cash in question consisted of borrowed funds meant strictly for travel and medical expenses and was not drawn from any allegedly frozen bank account.

The defence team further accused EOCO officials of invading their client’s right to privacy as guaranteed under Article 18(2) of the 1992 Constitution.

The lawyers claimed that the data on Mr Abdul-Wahab’s two seized mobile phones was accessed without judicial authorization on two separate occasions—specifically on 6th July 2026 at 7:39 pm and 7th July 2026 at 9:33 am—while he was still held in state custody.

Furthermore, the letter noted that EOCO's continuous retention of Mr Abdul-Wahab's passport violates a High Court order dated 29th June 2026.

The court had released the passport to enable his medical travel, with a directive to return the document directly to the Registrar of the High Court upon his return. Counsel argued that holding the passport without a specific court warrant is contrary to Article 21(4) of the Constitution.

The law firm has asked for a full account of the data accessed from the phones and warned that they will resort to litigation if the items were not released immediately.

Faltering EOCO retreats again after eating humble pie

Despite a massive press conference christened “the Rumble in the Jungle” by the Attorney General Dominic Ayine in 2025 pronouncing Hanan guilty on all charges as established by “painstaking investigations by EOCO” the trial has been rather bumpy.

In May 2026, the prosecution withdrew all charges against Hanan because they were “unprosecutable” according to legal commentators. He was re-arrested, re-arraigned before court on new charges, but they suffered another blip when the state decided to withdraw a large chunk of evidence they had presented to the court because they could not rely on it anymore.

The new charges filed by the prosecution were also heavily challenged by Godfred Dame for being defective causing further changes to the charge sheet. The return of the phones and cash is the latest blight on EOCO’s drive to jail Hanan Abdul Wahab Hanan even if the evidence is not wholesome.