Gov’t Busts $Millions Visa Scam at Ghana Embassy in U.S.

The Government of Ghana has launched a major investigation into a multimillion-dollar visa fraud scheme at its embassy in Washington, D.C., following shocking revelations of misconduct by a staff member.

At the center of the scandal is Mr. Fred Kwarteng, a local IT staffer recruited in 2017, who has now been dismissed after admitting to operating an illegal visa processing scheme that siphoned money from unsuspecting applicants for over five years.

According to a government-led forensic audit, Kwarteng created an unauthorized link on the embassy’s official website.

This link diverted applicants to his private company, Ghana Travel Consultants (GTC), where he charged unapproved fees ranging from $29.75 to $60 per applicant. All payments were allegedly made into his personal account.

The scheme, which is believed to involve multiple collaborators, had been running undetected for years and may have generated millions of dollars in illicit revenue.

In a swift response, Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa outlined a series of tough measures in a statement posted on social media:

1. Immediate dismissal of Fred Kwarteng and submission of the case to the Attorney-General for possible prosecution and recovery of funds.
2. Recall of all Foreign Affairs Ministry staff posted at the Washington embassy.
3. Dissolution of the embassy’s entire IT department.
4. Suspension of all locally recruited staff at the embassy.
5. A request to the Auditor-General to conduct a detailed forensic examination of the embassy’s financial records.
6. Temporary closure of the embassy for several days to allow for restructuring and system upgrade.

This is a serious breach of trust and a betrayal of public service,” Ablakwa stated.

“We are taking bold and irreversible steps to clean house, ensure justice, and prevent such fraud from happening again.”

The government’s actions have been widely welcomed by anti-corruption advocates and citizens alike, who see it as a sign of renewed commitment to transparency and accountability.

As investigations continue, attention now turns to how deep the network of collaborators runs and how much money may have been lost in what is being called one of the biggest embassy scams in recent history.