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Popular Ghanaian musician Shatta Wale was detained in connection with the purchase of a luxury car and has since been granted bail, Ghanaian authorities have confirmed.
Wale’s yellow Lamborghini was seized earlier this month at the request of the United States, which alleged that the vehicle was linked to proceeds from a criminal enterprise.
Ghana’s Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) said Wale voluntarily entered custody on Wednesday and was questioned regarding the car, according to the BBC.
In a statement, Wale’s management did not reference the US allegations, saying instead that the musician’s detention was over “tax obligations.”
EOCO said the 2019 Lamborghini Urus was identified by the FBI and US Justice Department as connected to a $4 million crime involving Nana Kwabena Amuah, a Ghanaian currently serving a jail term in the US.
Wale has denied any knowledge or connection to Amuah, who received a seven-year sentence for fraud in 2023.
He stated that he was a “third-party owner” of the $150,000 car and did not know who shipped it to Ghana.
Shatta Wale, real name Charles Nii Armah, is one of Ghana’s best-known musicians. He has built a successful career on Jamaica’s dancehall sound and gained international recognition by collaborating with Beyoncé on her 2019 song ‘Already’.
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After questioning, Wale was initially granted bail of 10,000,000 Ghanaian cedis ($910,000; £675,000), which was later reduced to $454,000, according to his management, and he was released.
A small crowd of fans gathered outside EOCO’s offices in Accra to show support for the musician. EOCO previously stated that Wale’s Lamborghini would be returned to the US to aid in restitution for Amuah’s victims.
US court records indicate that Amuah and his co-conspirators impersonated vendors to defraud nearly 70 public and private organisations.
EOCO emphasized that the seizure of Wale’s car was part of a broader operation, with Ghana working alongside the US to dismantle an international fraud network targeting Americans.
This month, the FBI and US Justice Department extradited and arrested three Ghanaian nationals alleged to be masterminds of a $100 million fraud scheme involving romance scams and phishing attacks.
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