New Patriotic Party (NPP) communicator Kofi Tonto has denied any involvement in an alleged US$19.4 million fraud scheme at Ghana’s Embassy in Washington, D.C., insisting that the US$800 he received was a legitimate welfare benefit following the birth of his child.
Speaking on Adom FM’s morning show, Dwaso Nsem, Mr Tonto said he had carefully reviewed the Auditor-General’s 220-page report and found that his name was not listed among persons implicated in the alleged scheme.
“For a year now, the embassy issues have been going on. The minister said he was investigating, and the Auditor-General has now brought out its report. When you take the Auditor-General’s report, which is about 220 pages, and search for my name, Kofi Tonto, it appears twice,” he said.
According to him, both instances where his name appeared were in tables relating to welfare benefits paid to embassy staff.
“One was a table showing embassy staff who received something called welfare benefits. Table one has my name and table two has my name. Those were the only two times my name appeared in the report,” he explained.
Mr Tonto, who served as Head of Information and Public Affairs at the embassy from March 2019 to July 2021, said he was initially confused when he heard reports linking him to the alleged fraud.
“I worked for the embassy, so when I heard the reports, I was confused and wondering when I had received such money. I left there almost five years ago,” he said.
He said he subsequently spoke to some former embassy staff and officials who had knowledge of the welfare system to establish why he had received the US$800.
“I tried to investigate and spoke to some staff who have worked there for a long time, including people who were in charge of finances. They told me that when my second baby was born, I was at the embassy, and the embassy gave me a gift of US$800 for giving birth. They said they do that for everyone as part of welfare support for life-changing events,” he said.
Mr Tonto explained that although his child was born in January 2021, the payment was made in July when he was preparing to leave the embassy.
“I was there from March 2019 to July 2021. My baby was born in January, and they couldn’t give me the money at the time. So, when I was about to leave the embassy in July, they processed my final payment of US$800 and gave it to me for my newborn,” he said.
He described the payment as a legitimate benefit available to embassy staff and rejected claims that it formed part of the alleged fraud scheme.
“That’s my crime that Manasseh said I have committed. As someone who was working for the country, Ghana, the embassy had a system where they gave welfare donations for life-changing events, and that is what they did for me,” he stated.
Mr Tonto said he was particularly concerned that his name had been associated with the alleged fraud despite his explanation that the payment was a welfare benefit.
“Manasseh said the fraud scheme included my donation and that we planned to take that money. If we say we are uprooting corruption in this country, is that how we remove corruption from the country — by tarnishing the image of people who worked for God and country?” he asked.
He said what hurt him most was that he had personally contacted investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni to explain his position before the report was published.
“What pains me most is that when I was talking to him and trying to bring his mind to the fact that I had no idea about this, he went ahead and added my name to it because I am a public figure,” he said.
Mr Tonto further questioned why he would deliberately participate in a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme for a relatively small amount of US$800.
“Even if I had no sense, why would I plan a fraud and take US$800 just to tarnish my image?” he asked.
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 allegedly shared between 2019 and 2025.
According to the audit report, the total amount involved was approximately US$19.4 million, generated between 2019 and 2025.
Mr Tonto has maintained that the US$800 he received was a legitimate welfare benefit and that all compensations, allowances, benefits and refunds paid to him during his tenure were processed through established procedures.
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