‘Comical joke’: Atta Akyea disputes ‘personal account’ claim in former NSB boss Adu-Boahene case.
The lawyer for former Director-General of the National Signals Bureau (NSB), Kwabena Adu-Boahene, has strongly rejected allegations that his client diverted state funds into a personal bank account, describing the claim as misleading and inconsistent with evidence presented in court.
In an interview after proceedings on Thursday, April 2, 2026, at Criminal Court 3 of the Accra High Court, defence counsel Samuel Atta Akyea maintained that the bank account at the centre of the controversy is not privately owned, but rather an official National Security Special Operations account.
His remarks come in response to accusations by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, who has alleged that Adu-Boahene transferred substantial sums, reportedly up to $7 million, into a personal account with UMB.
However, Atta Akyea insists the prosecution’s own witness testimony contradicts that claim.
“We don’t want to sort of prejudge some of the issues, but nobody can run away from the fact that the UMB account was a National Security Special Operations account,” he said.
“And if you heard her, she went there as a National Security operative to pay cheques into it. She didn’t pay the cheque in a hole. It has an account name and an account number, and it is not Kwabena Adu-Boahene’s private account. So on her own showing, she paid the money into which account?”
He further argued that documentary evidence tendered in court, including deposit slips, clearly identifies the account as an institutional one.
“As if people want to pretend that Adu-Boahene has an account in a corner, and guess what, she, PW2, the Edith lady, prepared the cheques, and they went to pay in the cheques.
“The paying slips have been tendered with an account name and account number. So what kind of comical joke is this? As if Adu-Boahene had taken away money from the state and hidden it in a private account, and was enjoying it. So more things will come up,” he added.
Background to the Case
The case stems from a controversial $7 million contract signed on January 30, 2020, between the NSB and RLC Holdings Limited, an Israeli firm, for the procurement of cyber defence system software.
According to the Attorney-General, only $1.75 million of the contract sum was paid to the vendor, while the remaining funds—equivalent to approximately GH¢39.5 million—were allegedly diverted to a private entity, BNC Communications Bureau Limited, reportedly linked to Adu-Boahene and his spouse.
The prosecution further claims that on February 6, 2020, a separate transfer of GH¢271 million was made from an NSB account at Fidelity Bank into a UMB account associated with BNC, under the pretext of paying for the same software.
Officials argue that these transactions form part of a broader pattern of financial impropriety during Mr Adu Boahene’s tenure.
But Atta Akyea has dismissed these assertions, arguing that the narrative of personal enrichment is unsupported by the facts emerging in court.
He maintains that the account in question functioned within the operational framework of National Security and was used by authorised
With both sides presenting sharply contrasting accounts, the trial is expected to intensify in the coming weeks as more witnesses are called and additional documentation is examined.
The case has drawn significant public attention, given its implications for transparency and accountability in the management of sensitive national security funds.
