DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Ghanaian singer Shatta Wale was taken into custody in connection with a U.S. fraud investigation tied to his luxury vehicle, authorities said Thursday.
Ghana's Economic and Organized Crime Office, EOCO, said Wale voluntarily appeared for questioning Wednesday as part of a U.S. government request to investigate the origins of his 2019 Lamborghini Urus.
He was released Thursday on bail.
The investigation is part of a larger probe into a “$4 million crime that occurred in the U.S.
involving some Ghanaians and the recovery of the crime's proceeds,” EOCO said in a statement.
The case centers on Nana Kwabena Amuah, a Ghanaian national, who was sentenced in 2023 to seven years in a U.S. federal prison for his role in a $4 million scheme to defraud the city of Lexington, Kentucky, by impersonating nonprofit organizations and tricking city officials into wiring money into a series of shell companies.
U.S. authorities suspect Wale's vehicle was purchased with the proceeds of the Kentucky case, according to EOCO.
Wale has said he is unable to identify the individual he bought the car from.
His legal team had previously said they are “fully engaged and actively working with the authorities to resolve this matter.”
One of Ghana’s most influential artists, Wale gained international attention in 2019 after being featured on Beyoncé’s song “Already.”
___
Follow the AP’s Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
