Gbese Court rejects Abu Trica’s attempt to halt US extradition

The Gbese District Court has dismissed a preliminary objection filed by Frederick Kumi, popularly known as Abu Trica, against extradition proceedings initiated by the United States.

In a ruling delivered today, the court, presided over by Magistrate Anna Akosua Appiah Gottfried Anaafi Gyasi, held that the offences forming the basis of the extradition, particularly wire fraud, constitute extraditable offences under the 1931 treaty between Ghana and the United States.

Abu Trica is wanted by U.S. authorities on allegations of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The 1931 extradition treaty provides the legal framework for extradition between the United States and Ghana. Counsel for the accused had argued that offences such as wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy are not specifically enumerated in the treaty and therefore cannot justify extradition proceedings.

The court, however, disagreed. “Money laundering and conspiracy, though not specifically mentioned in the 1931 treaty, and in the case of Conspiracy and Money Laundering, same has been catered for in the above-named UN Convention. The preliminary legal objection is therefore overruled,” the Magistrate ruled.