A review of the Nevada Southern Detention Centre website indicates that Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, the convicted former chief executive officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), is not in the facility, contrary to reports from Ghana’s embassy in the United States of America (USA).
In a statement dated Thursday 15 January 2026 and signed by Victor Emmanuel Smith, Ghana’s ambassador to the US, Ghana’s diplomatic mission in Washington, DC announced that Ms Tamakloe Attionu had been detained at the Nevada Detention Centre at the following address: 2190 East Mesquite Avenue, Pahrump, Nevada.
“My information is that she was detained by US Marshals on 6 January and has since been kept at the detention center. I am reliably informed that, acting on an extradition request sent to the US authorities sometime in July 2024, US Marshals arrested Mrs Tamakloe-Attionu and placed her in detention to await her day in court,” Ambassador Victor Smith’s statement said.
However, a quick search on the World Wide Web reveals that the detention centre is an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, and it has no record of Sedina Tamakloe Attionu in its system.
No match
On its website, www.ice.gov/nevada, the online detainee locator system allows users to search for detainee details by first and last name and country of birth. When the details of Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu are entered, the following is the result you get:
“Your search has returned zero (0) matching records. Please re-check the search terms you entered to ensure they are correct and try your query again. Please note that the system does not provide information for detainees under 18. If you conducted a name-based search, please remember that only exact matches to the name you entered will be returned.
“You may want to search for the detainee’s name or any spelling variants. If you conducted an A-Number search, you may want to try conducting a name-based search instead. If you are unable to find the detainee using the Online Detainee Locator System, please contact your local field office.”
In the case of Ghana’s former finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta, who was recently detained by ICE at its Virginia detention centre, when similar details are entered into ICE Virginia’s system, the records indicate that Ofori-Atta is at the detention centre. This information pops up when you do a search on Kenneth Ofori-Atta:
“Detention Information For: Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori-Atta, Country of Birth: Ghana, Current Detention Facility: Caroline Detention Facility, 11093 SW Lewis Memorial Drive, Bowling Green, VA 22427.
“Family members and legal representatives may be able to obtain additional information about this individual’s case by contacting this ERO office: Washington, DC, Docket Control Office Phone Number: (703) 633-2100.”
It is unclear whether Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu is being held at the Nevada Detention Centre under a name other than the official one she bears. Ghana’s diplomatic mission in Washington, DC has been contacted for a reaction on this development, but it has yet to respond.
The inquiry desk at the Nevada Detention Centre has also been contacted to verify the information provided by Ghana’s diplomatic mission in Washington, DC through the ICE Office of Public Affairs.
On 10 January 2026, Ghana’s embassy in the US issued a statement regarding the detention of Ken Ofori-Atta by ICE. The same embassy issued another statement on 15 January 2026 on the detention of Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu.
However, it appears the two statements were issued on two different letterheads, even though both statements were signed by Victor Emmanuel Smith, Ghana’s ambassador to the US.
Background
On 16 April 2024, an Accra high court sentenced the former chief executive officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, to ten years in jail with hard labour.
Daniel Axim, a former chief operating officer of MASLOC, was also sentenced to five years in jail with hard labour.
The two were found guilty on 78 counts, including causing financial loss to the state, stealing, conspiracy to steal, money laundering and causing loss to public property, in contravention of public procurement law.
On 24 February 2023, the court granted the prosecution’s application to conduct the trial in the absence of Mrs Tamakloe-Attionu, after the court had allowed her to go to the United States in 2021 for medical attention, but she failed to return.
Brief facts
Sedinam Tamakloe Attionu (the first accused) and Daniel Axim (the second accused, a former chief operations officer at MASLOC) face court charges relating to allegations of stealing and causing financial loss to the state amounting to GHC93 million, among other offences.
Together, the two accused face 78 charges, including conspiracy to steal, stealing, unauthorised commitment resulting in a financial obligation for the government, improper payment, money laundering, and contravention of the Public Procurement Act.
The two accused allegedly stole a total of GHC3,198,280 while at MASLOC and wilfully caused the state a financial loss of GHC1,973,780.
Also, while in charge of MASLOC, Tamakloe Attionu and her accomplice allegedly made unauthorised commitments, resulting in financial obligations for the government amounting to GHC61,735,832.50.
Further charges against the two include a loss of GHC22,158,118.85 to public property, improper payment of GHC273,743.66, and money laundering of GHC3,704,380, all while in charge of MASLOC.
Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra
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