New Patriotic Party (NPP) communicator Kofi Tonto says he was unaware of an investigative report by journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni linking him to an alleged US$19 million fraud scheme at Ghana’s Embassy in Washington, D.C., because he had been unwell.
Speaking on Adom FM’s morning show, Dwaso Nsem, Mr Tonto said he only became aware of the report after people started calling him about claims that he had received US$800 from the alleged fraud.
He explained that he had been suffering from the flu and had a high temperature, making him unaware of developments surrounding the report.
“I have been unwell for some time now, so I didn’t even have an idea of what was happening. It was yesterday that I had the flu and my temperature was very high when people started calling me that a story had come out that I took US$800 out of the US$19 million fraud scheme going around in Washington, D.C.,” he said.
Mr Tonto said after seeing the report, he contacted Manasseh Azure Awuni to seek clarification on the claims.
“When I saw the story, I sent Manasseh a message about the story he had written. He told me that he picked the story from the Auditor-General’s report, and I told him that if that was the case, at least he could have texted me,” he said.
According to Mr Tonto, he expected the investigative journalist to contact him before publishing the report, particularly because they had interacted on a previous story.
“I remember one time he did a story and there were some discrepancies, and I asked him to correct it. So, at least, you could have reached out to me on this particular one if you had such a story about me,” he said.
Mr Tonto said although he and Manasseh are not friends, they know each other well enough for him to have expected an opportunity to respond to the allegations before publication.
“Although we are not friends, we know ourselves, and so you could have asked,” he said.
He further alleged that while he was explaining his position to the journalist, Manasseh returned to the Auditor-General’s report and took a screenshot of the section containing his name, which he said was subsequently used in the report to suggest that he was involved in planning and sharing the alleged fraud proceeds.
A forensic audit by the Auditor-General has revealed an alleged scheme involving staff of Ghana’s Embassy in Washington, D.C., through which money generated from visa and passport-related activities was shared between 2019 and 2025.
The audit, which covers the embassy’s operations from 2017 to 2025, reportedly identified financial irregularities and other schemes through which millions of dollars were generated outside approved charges.
According to the audit report, the total amount involved was approximately US$19.4 million, generated between 2019 and 2025.
Mr Tonto served as Head of Information and Public Affairs at the embassy between March 2019 and July 2021.
He has denied any involvement in the alleged scheme and maintained that the US$800 he received was a legitimate child benefit, while all compensations, allowances, benefits, and refunds paid to him during his tenure were processed through established procedures.
“I have never been involved in any scheme, the sharing of, or the receipt of any ill-obtained funds,” he said.
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