The Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) has disclosed that it is working to make Ghana an unattractive destination for economic criminals.
Deputy Executive Director of Operations at EOCO, Abdualai Bashiru Dapilah said the Office is repositioning itself, and collaborating with its development partners and other law enforcement agencies to deal with economic and organised crime activities.
“We want to stay ahead of crime and make Ghana a hell for economic criminals. Ghana will not be an attractive destination for economic criminals” he said.
He went on to address those who see their colleagues in crime and think it is an easy way of making money, to quit they because are coming after them.
“Whatever they would have acquired when we get them, we will deprive them of it and still send them to jail,” he mentioned.
Dapilah emphasized that, the Office is collaborating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), National Crime Agency, Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) – Nigeria, and GIZ, among others to achieve its targets.
He added that EOCO has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Bank of Ghana, Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), BOST Company and others towards that aim.
Dapilah said the Office is amending the EOCO Act to enable it to raise funds through recoveries of proceeds of crime, adding that it would allow the Office to finance its activities and to be financially independent.
He cautioned the public against the purchase of stolen cars, saying EOCO is collaborating with the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on that.
“We have sent the Vehicle Identification Numbers of those vehicles to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) that anybody who brings any of such cars to register, the person should be arrested and the car detained so that they inform us to come for them,” Dapilah said
