The High Court in Accra has upheld the extradition of Frederick Kumi, widely known as Abu Trica, to the United States to face trial over his alleged role in an $8 million romance scam targeting elderly victims. The ruling came after the court dismissed an application by his lawyers challenging an earlier decision of the Gbese District Court, which had granted the Attorney-General’s request for his extradition on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Following the judgment, security officers rearrested Kumi to advance the extradition process.
His lawyer, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, confirmed the development in a Facebook post and indicated that the legal team intended to challenge the decision at the Supreme Court. “I am out of Ghana for work. I just heard that the case of Abu Trica has been fast-tracked and a judge has just ordered his extradition. Hmmm. FBI 1 – Abu 1. I guess this issue goes to the Supreme Court,” he wrote.
Bail
Before the latest ruling, the High Court had granted Kumi bail in the sum of GH¢30 million with two sureties, both to be justified with landed property. The grant of bail came after he had remained in custody since his arrest in December 2025 during a joint operation involving Ghanaian security agencies and their counterparts in the United States. His earlier attempts to secure bail while the extradition proceedings were pending had been unsuccessful, with several High Courts dismissing applications filed on his behalf.
District Court ruling
On March 27 this year, the Gbese District Court cleared the way for Kumi’s extradition after rejecting preliminary objections raised by his lawyers. The defence had argued that the offences of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering were not extraditable under the 1931 Extradition Treaty between Ghana and the United States and that the request was politically motivated.
However, the court dismissed the objection.
“Money laundering and conspiracy, though not specifically mentioned in the 1931 treaty, and in the case of conspiracy and money laundering, the same has been catered for in the above-named UN Convention. The preliminary legal objection is therefore overruled,” the court, presided over by Her Honour Anna Akosua Appiah Gottfried Anaafi Gyasi, ruled. The District Court subsequently granted Kumi 15 days within which to challenge the extradition order at the High Court.
Human rights suit
At the time the extradition order was issued, Kumi’s lawyers had already initiated separate proceedings at the High Court, contesting both the extradition process and alleging violations of his constitutional rights by state security agencies and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In his suit, Kumi claimed that officers from the Narcotics Control Commission, the Economic and Organised Crime Office, the Attorney-General’s Department, and the FBI subjected him to torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment during his arrest on December 11, 2025. He alleged that he was kept in handcuffs from morning until late evening without access to food, water, rest, or other necessities, resulting in severe physical and psychological distress in breach of Article 15 of the 1992 Constitution.
Source: Daily Graphic
