Ghana’s former finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta is due to appear before a United States immigration court on 15 June in a hearing that could determine both his residency status and efforts by Ghanaian authorities to secure his return over criminal charges.
Court filings show the case has been set for an individual hearing before Judge David A. Gardey at the Annandale Immigration Court, with proceedings expected to take place virtually.
The hearing follows Ofori-Atta’s release from custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement on 7 April after a court granted him bail of $65,000.
His Ghana-based legal team, Minkah-Premo, Osei-Bonsu, Bruce-Cathline and Partners, said at the time that he had reunited with his family and remained committed to pursuing his rights under US law.
Ofori-Atta entered the United States on 28 May 2025, on a visitor visa that expired in November, according to court documents. He was arrested by immigration authorities on 6 January 2026, in Washington after overstaying.
Authorities in Ghana are seeking his return to face more than 70 criminal charges alongside five others in ongoing corruption investigations, including matters linked to the Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited contract.
His US-based lawyer, Enayat Qasimi, has said the former minister is pursuing a “pathway to residency” and questioned whether he would receive a fair trial if returned to Ghana, describing the case as politically motivated.
Ofori-Atta served under former president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo from 2017 to early 2024 and was a central figure in economic policy during a period marked by both an International Monetary Fund support programme and a controversial domestic debt restructuring.
The June hearing is expected to go beyond procedural matters, with the court likely to assess the merits of his immigration case and competing legal arguments over his continued stay in the United States.
The outcome could have significant implications for both his legal future in the US and Ghana’s efforts to bring him back to stand trial.
