Former MASLOC boss Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu has been arrested and is being held in U.S. custody following an extradition request by the Government of Ghana, officials at Ghana’s Embassy in Washington have confirmed.
In a statement dated January 15, 2026, Ambassador to the United States, Victor Emmanuel Smith, said Mrs. Tamakloe-Attionu is currently being held at the Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump, Nevada.
According to the statement, she was arrested by the United States Marshals on January 6, 2026, after U.S. authorities acted on an extradition request sent by Ghana in July 2024.
Mrs. Tamakloe-Attionu has since been placed in detention to await her court appearance, where matters relating to the extradition process are expected to be considered.
Why has she been arrested and detained?
Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu is a Ghanaian development finance administrator who served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), a government agency that provides microloans to small businesses.
In April 2024, she was convicted in absentia by an Accra High Court on 78 counts, including causing financial loss to the state, stealing, conspiracy to steal, money laundering and breaches of the Public Procurement Act, in a case involving alleged misappropriation of funds meant for MASLOC activities.
As part of the judgment, she was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment with hard labour after absconding while on permission to seek medical treatment abroad. Her co-accused, the former MASLOC operations manager, Daniel Axim, was sentenced to five years.
Following her conviction, Ghana sought her extradition from the United States, where she had been residing, to serve her sentence and face further legal processes. U.S. authorities acted on the extradition request submitted by Ghana in July 2024, leading to her arrest by U.S. Marshals on January 6, 2026. She is currently being held in the United States pending legal proceedings in the extradition process.
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Meanwhile, Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Emmanuel Victor Smith has said Ghanaian authorities in the United States are yet to make contact with convicted former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu who is currently detained at the Nevada Southern Detention Centre.
Ambassador Victor Smith noted that personnel from Ghana’s Embassy in U.S are working to get in touch with Sedina Tamakloe at the detention centre and offer any help they could.
“Not yet. [we have not made contact with Sedina Tamakloe] Nevada is about 5 and half hours away from Washington. I am trying to get my officers to see if we can make contact or visit with her,” he told Alfred Ocansey on TV3 KeyPoint, Saturday, January 17, 2026.
He said he is yet to receive any information about her legal representatives in the U.S
“Not at all, I don’t have that information [regarding her lawyers and who is representing her],” he stated.
“My information is that she is going to go to a Judge per their proceedings,” he added.
“As far as our sister Sedina is concerned, we have not been successful so far but my officers are working on it as we tried in the case of our brother Ken and he declined,” Mr. Smith said.
“Our sister, once we make contact with her, we will try and find out whether she needs any kind of support or assistance. We need to get to her first,” he remarked.
