Auditors conducting a forensic audit at Ghana's Embassy in Washington, DC, uncovered disturbing evidence in the office of IT officer Fred Kwarteng. Blank biometric passport booklets, active passport materials, and visa stickers were found alongside signs suggesting that digital records connected to his work may have been removed from official computers before the audit.
Blank Passports and Visa Stickers Found in Kwarteng's Office
Auditors recovered eighteen passport booklets from Kwarteng's office, including four blank biometric passport booklets. One contained Kwarteng's own image, while the remaining active passport booklets could not be accounted for. Fifty-nine used and unused visa stickers were also recovered. These sensitive security documents require strict custody, inventory management, and accountability procedures.
The discovery came despite an earlier internal review that had already raised concerns about the management of biometric passport booklets at the Embassy. A May 2021 internal audit identified weaknesses in record-keeping and stock management practices. Records from Ridge PAC, Ghana's biometric passport production partner, showed discrepancies between passport booklet numbers supplied to the Mission and those recorded by the Embassy.
Circumstances Surrounding the Materials Raise Concerns
The possession of blank passport booklets and visa stickers became more significant because Kwarteng also provided visa and passport application support services through a private company whose website he directed traffic to from the official website of Ghana's Embassy in Washington, D.C. The circumstances surrounding the materials found in his office, the audit noted, "presuppose" that Kwarteng may have been engaged in fraudulent issuance of passports and visas outside official Embassy processes.
A source who worked at the embassy at the time, however, told Pledge Against Corruption that the auditors' conclusion may be wrong. The source explained that Kwarteng often liaised with printers of Ghana's passport booklets, so there was a time when some errors occurred during the printing process, resulting in discrepancies in serial numbers. When it was corrected, some passport booklets whose serial numbers had been duplicated could no longer be used and those may still have been in Kwarteng's office during the audit.
Digital Records May Have Been Removed
Beyond the passport materials, the auditors also said they uncovered what appeared to be attempts to conceal digital records in Kwarteng's office. The desktop computer assigned to him was found without an internal Solid-State Drive (SSD), the component responsible for storing files and system information. Physical inspection showed that the primary storage device had been removed, leaving the computer without its internal storage medium.
Investigators also recovered multiple electronic devices and storage media associated with Kwarteng's office, including six used SATA hard drives, Dell Latitude, MacBook Pro, and Lenovo ThinkPad laptops, an iPad tablet, Samsung and iPhone mobile devices, and RAM modules. The removal of the SSD, combined with the presence of multiple storage devices, created concerns that sensitive consular information may have been copied, removed, altered, or destroyed before the inspection.
A Reasonable Suspicion of Tampering
The audit report said, "Examination of the office environment revealed signs of disruption and disorder consistent with a hurried removal of equipment and documents. Several drawers and shelves were found open and disorganised, with documents, storage media, cables, and electronic components scattered across the workspace. The condition of the office, including dismantled computer components and removed storage hardware, strongly suggests that the computer system had been tampered with prior to the audit inspection.
What Happens Next
The findings of the audit have raised serious concerns about the management of biometric passport booklets and digital records at the Ghana Embassy in Washington, DC. The Embassy has been unable to provide a complete account of passport stock management between 2016 and 2025. The audit has also raised questions about the involvement of IT officer Fred Kwarteng in the management of passport booklets and the possible misuse of sensitive consular information.
The next step will be for the Embassy to investigate the findings of the audit and take necessary action to address the concerns raised. The Embassy has also been asked to provide a detailed explanation of how the blank passport booklets and visa stickers came into Kwarteng's custody and why earlier recommendations on inventory control had not been implemented.
Source: Joy Online
