Ghana’s former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, who faces corruption charges in his home country, has been arrested in the U.S. over concerns related to his immigration status, according to his lawyers.
Ghana has previously requested Ofori-Atta’s extradition, but his lawyers are challenging this, saying the allegations against him are politically motivated, News.Az reports, citing BBC.
Ofori-Atta left Ghana last year for medical reasons, his legal team said.
On Wednesday, confirming his detention in the US, they said they expected the matter to be resolved “expeditiously”.
In a statement, Ofori-Atta’s lawyers said their client was “law-abiding” and was in the process of applying to change his immigration status allowing him to stay in the US “past the period of validity of [his] visa”.