The Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation, Sam N. George, has lifted the veil on systemic lapses in Ghana’s fight against cybercrime, revealing that previous law enforcement personnel leaked intelligence to fraud suspects, allowing them to evade arrest.

Mr George defended the current National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration under President John Mahama, responding to criticism over the government’s cooperation with foreign law enforcement agencies in tracking and arresting cyber fraud suspects. The latest operation, a collaboration between the Economic & Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and the FBI, led to the arrest of Frederick Kumi, also known as Abu Trica, a social media personality indicted in an $8 million elder fraud scheme.

George emphasised that government's current measures against cyber fraud were part of a long-term effort, not a reaction to foreign pressure.

"This action of clamping down on cyberfraud didn't start today. The FBI did not make the request today. Those requests were pending before I became minister but in the past people were leaking the information to the targets and helping them evade arrest," he revealed.

The minister explained that these leaks had contributed to Ghana’s tarnished reputation in the global digital economy, discouraging fintech platforms and digital investors from operating in the country.

"The reason PayPal left Ghana is because of fraud," he said.

He stressed that online fraud affected not just foreign platforms but also legitimate Ghanaian digital workers. He cited that content creators and freelancers often struggled to monetise their work fairly because “a few people have chosen to give Ghana a bad name” by engaging in cyber scams.

He noted his seriousness about improving investor confidence that Ghana is a "peaceful destination, safe haven, and illicit flows will not come through here".

“We are committed to cleaning up the image of Ghana internationally. As we clamp down on cybercrime, it strengthens our negotiations with digital platforms and shows that illicit flows will not find safe harbour here,” he said.

The minister also dismissed arguments that unemployment concerns should mitigate arrests for cybercrime.

“The excuse and argument that there are no jobs, should we then say that we shouldn't arrest armed robbers as well? Everybody will have an excuse for crime,” he cautioned.