The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has arrested former Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Rev Dr Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, and two others for their supposed role in the SML scandal.
The OSP announced the arrest in a post shared on social media on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.
The two other suspects are Isaac Crentsil, ex-Commissioner of Customs and now General Manager at SML (Strategic Mobilisation Limited), and Christian Tetteh Sottie, former Technical Advisor and now Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of SML.
The office indicated that the arrest of the three men is in connection with its investigation into the SML scandal.
“The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has arrested Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, former Commissioner-General of the GRA; Isaac Crentsil, ex-Commissioner of Customs and now General Manager at SML; and Christian Tetteh Sottie, former Technical Advisor and now MD/CEO of SML.
“The arrests are linked to ongoing investigations into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in respect of contracts between the GRA and SML for revenue assurance services. The probe also seeks to verify SML’s claims that its services have been saving the nation significant revenues,” part of the post reads.
It added that the three suspects were detained on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, after failing to meet their bail conditions.
Additionally, the list of suspects placed under arrest in connection with the SML case includes Evans Adusei, the CEO of SML; Philip Mensah, former Deputy Commissioner of Legal at the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and currently a legal consultant to SML; Joseph Kuruk and Faustina Adjorkor, both staff members of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA); and Kofi Nti, the former Commissioner General of the GRA.
The SML scandal is one of the investigations in which former Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta has been declared a suspect and a wanted fugitive.
The OSP has indicated that it is examining agreements between Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) concerning petroleum and mineral revenue oversight.
Under the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government, SML was engaged by the GRA to provide real-time monitoring and audit services aimed at enhancing tax compliance and revenue assurance in the downstream petroleum sector.
In 2023, the scope of the contract was significantly expanded to include upstream petroleum activities and the mining sector, triggering heightened public scrutiny.
The government under former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo eventually suspended the contract in 2024 following an audit by KPMG.
An amount of GH¢1.06 billion had already been paid to SML by the time the contract was suspended.
If allowed to proceed, the total cost to the state was projected to reach GH¢5.17 billion over five years.
In the wake of all these happenings, Civil Society Organisations mounted a strong response to the findings, with a coalition of five Non-Governmental Organisations filing a lawsuit against the previous government, seeking to recover GH¢1 billion already paid to SML.
