On 14 April 2025, the High Court of Ghana, in the exercise of its supervisory jurisdiction over the Economic and Organised Crime Office (“EOCO”), issued an Order of Interim Injunction restraining EOCO, its officers, and all persons acting on its behalf from declaring or maintaining the directors of Sesi-Edem Company Limited (the “Company”) as “wanted persons” in connection with the transaction between the Company and JG Resources Ltd.
The Order further restrains EOCO from inviting, detaining, arresting, charging, or in any manner interfering with the liberty of the Company or its directors in respect of the said matter, and from continuing any purported investigation founded on the same.
In November 2025, JG Resources Ltd petitioned EOCO claiming that only part of the gold it had contracted to purchase from the Company had been delivered. The petition did not disclose the critical fact that the contractual deadline for delivery was June 2026. Despite EOCO’s own admission of this deadline in court, it proceeded to exercise its powers in aid of JG Resources Ltd under the guise of investigating allegations of defrauding by false pretences and money laundering and froze the Company’s accounts.
In view of EOCO’s admission that the contractual delivery deadline was June 2026 and having regard to the Company’s licensing records from the Precious Minerals Marketing Company, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, and the Ghana Gold Board, the High Court, in a ruling delivered on 19 March 2026, held that the facts disclosed no basis for allegations of fraud or money laundering. The Court accordingly ordered the defreezing of the Company’s accounts. The Court further held that EOCO had acted outside its statutory mandate and had breached the Company’s constitutional right to administrative justice.
For the avoidance of doubt, EOCO itself invoked the jurisdiction of the High Court, Adentan, in relation to this very transaction when it sought confirmation of its administrative freezing orders. It is the same Court which, upon hearing the parties, determined that the Respondent lacked the statutory mandate to investigate the matter and accordingly revoked its earlier decision to confirm EOCO’s freezing orders.
Notwithstanding that Ruling, EOCO issued a public media release dated 30 March 2026 declaring the directors of the Company as “wanted persons” and indicating its intention to proceed with investigations. The present proceedings were commenced to restrain those actions and to protect the rights of the Company and its directors.
The High Court has now directed that EOCO must refrain from maintaining the “wanted” declaration and from taking any further steps in reliance on that position pending the determination of the substantive application. The Order has been duly served on EOCO by the Court’s bailiffs, and the Board and Management are therefore fully on notice of its terms. Immediate steps must be taken to ensure strict compliance with the Order and to direct all officers to act in accordance with it.
Sesi-Edem Company Limited reiterates that neither it nor its directors have engaged in any criminal conduct, and that the transaction in question remains a contractual matter governed by its agreed terms.
The Company will continue to take all appropriate steps to protect its rights and to ensure that the authority of the Court is respected.
