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The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) says two major corruption probes involving the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) programme and the alleged diversion of petroleum products by more than 30 Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have reached advanced stages.
The Herald’s investigations into the MIIF this year, revealed that MIIF cash, which came from mineral royalties, was used for various purposes beyond the gold deal. It was used for fuel purchases, senseless procurement of mine equipment, bailouts for private mining companies, fixed deposits, outrageous corporate social responsibility (CSR), among others.
Interestingly, the OSP led by Kissi Agyebeng, has been fixated on the activities of Goldridge Company Limited, owned by Nana Yaw Duodu, alias “Dr. Sledge”. He and his firm are one of the many companies that had access to the MIFF cash.
The Herald had worked on damning details regarding the alleged mismanagement and misuse of Ghana’s mineral wealth under the leadership of Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, the Chief Executive Officer of the MIIF, which oversees the controversial Agyapa Royalties Limited.
One of the most shocking revelations is the enormous amount allocated to Dr. Sledge, who has been linked to what seems to be a major financial raid on MIIF under the Akufo-Addo government. His company, Goldridge Ghana Limited, received about US$119 million in two payments.
Documents available to The Herald, showed that US$94 million was first paid to Dr. Sledge, a well-known socialite in East Legon, Accra, for a gold trade deal that suffered irregularities.
In November 2024, Fidelity Bank Ghana, seized US$25 million of MIIF’s funds due to another financial facility MIIF guaranteed to Goldridge.
The OSP initiated this investigation following a series of The Herald publications on events at MIIF. Indeed, the OSP contacted this paper to assist with information on MIIF, but this was declined because similar assistance to the OSP in the US$1.61 billion Aker-Energy transaction and bribes paid to journalists and Civil Society Organizations in 2021 have been investigated or mentioned by the Special Prosecutor at his public conferences.
In a statement posted on its official Facebook page on Saturday, November 22, the OSP said it continues to push several high-value investigations forward, with rising public interest expected as the cases progress. The Office reaffirmed that its work remains anchored in due process, transparency, and the protection of the public interest.
According to the update, the OSP disclosed that, under the MIIF investigation, it has already undertaken key statutory measures, including freezing accounts, seizing assets, and imposing restrictions on the movement of some individuals as part of the ongoing probe.
The investigation centres on a gold-trading arrangement between MIIF and Goldridge Company Limited, introduced to support Ghana’s gold-for-oil and reserves programme intended to boost state revenue.
In September 2025, the OSP confirmed that Nana Yaw Duodu, the Chief Executive Officer of Goldridge Company Limited, had been invited and subsequently detained after failing to meet bail conditions related to the same matter.
Subsequently, on October 29, the Office of the Special Prosecutor raided Dr Sledge’s Trassaco residence and the Goldridge Company Limited offices in East Legon as part of ongoing investigations into the Minerals Income Investment Fund gold trade program.
The Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), created under Act 978 of 2018 to manage Ghana’s mineral royalties and state mineral investments, introduced its gold-trade initiative to support the government’s gold-for-oil and gold-for-reserves policies through private-sector partnerships.
The second investigation involves an extensive fuel-diversion scheme in which more than 30 OMCs are being investigated for allegedly diverting marine gas oil, premix fuel, and diesel. The OSP says the alleged diversions have major revenue implications, and efforts are underway to recover millions of cedis that should have accrued to the state.
The Office also mentioned that, beyond these two ongoing cases, several others, including issues involving the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML), are already in court.
The OSP emphasised that its mandate remains unchanged: to prevent, investigate, and prosecute corruption, and to ensure the effective recovery and management of state assets as the cases advance toward possible prosecution.
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