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Claim: There are conflicting reports about the status of former MASLOC CEO, Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu. While Ghana’s ambassador to the US reports that she has been detained in the US, some news reports claim she has not been.
Verdict: True. A federal detention official reached by phone confirmed to DUBAWA that Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu is being held at the Nevada Southern Detention Centre under the U.S. Marshals Service’s custody.
Full Text
Ghana’s Ambassador to the US, Victor Emmanuel Smith, on Thursday, January 15, 2026, issued a statement announcing that embattled former chief executive officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Christine Tamakloe-Attionu, has been arrested in the US.
The statement said, “I can today confirm that Mrs Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu is being detained at the Nevada Southern Detention Centre, 2190 East Mesquite Avenue, Pahrump, Nevada.”
The ambassador added that: “My information is that she was detained by US Marshals on January 6th and has since been kept at that detention center.”
Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu was tried and sentenced in absentia to a 10-year jail term with hard labour in April 2024 after her conviction on counts including causing financial loss to the state, stealing, and conspiracy to steal.
The publication by Ghana’s US ambassador has drawn mixed reactions, with a section of the public denouncing the information as false. For instance, Accra-based Asaase Radio, in a news publication on Friday, countered the statement, noting that it did not find Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu’s name in the centre’s detainee database.
A former deputy chief executive of the National Youth Authority, in a Facebook post, also described news of Tamakloe-Attionu’s detention as “a lie.” These contradictory reports have led to uncertainty and confusion among the public, raising questions about the accuracy of the embassy’s announcement.
DUBAWA therefore proceeded to ascertain the truth or otherwise of the claim made by Ghana’s Ambassador to the US.
Verification:
To verify the claim, DUBAWA used multiple verification methods, starting with extensive searches on United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) databases. The searches were done using more than 30 different name combinations, including Sedina Christine Tamakloe-Attionu, Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, and Sedina Attionu. None of these searches returned results confirming her detention.
However, further investigation showed that the named detention facility where Tamakloe-Attionu was reportedly being held, the Nevada Southern Detention Centre, is a multi-use facility that serves multiple federal agencies, including ICE, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the U.S. Marshals.
The US Marshals Service is a federal agency responsible for apprehending fugitives who are wanted by foreign nations, in this case, Ghana.
With this information, the next step in our investigation was to check databases of other agencies, particularly the U.S. Marshals, as Ghana’s ambassador mentioned as the arresting agency.
Since US Marshals do not retain public databases on detainees, DUBAWA reached out to the federal custodians managing US Marshal detainees at the Nevada Southern Detention Centre by phone at +1 (775) 751 4500.
Below is the interview transcript:
Reporter: I want to get some information about someone who is believed to be detained at the Nevada Southern Detention Center.
Operator: What is the last name of the person you are looking for?
Reporter: The last name is Tamakloe, which is spelt T-A-M-A-K-L-O-E hypen ATTIONU
Operator: Hold on, let’s spell the first part… T-A-M-A…. Hold on… T-A-M-A-K… Wait.. What’s the first name?
Reporter: The first name is Sedina… S-E-…
Operator: Yes, she is here.
Reporter: Is she there?
Operator: Uh-huh
Reporer: When was the arrest date?
Operator: On the 7th January.
Reporter: Is she in any process or proceeding
Operator: I don’t know. You would have to call the arresting agency directly about that.
Reporter: I am uncertain if this is ICE or the Marshals, to be sure who I have to talk to. If you can help me with that?
Operator: Marshals.
The information from the call confirms that Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service on January 7, 2026, and as of January 16, 2026, she was being held at the Nevada Southern Detention Center located at 2190 East Mesquite Avenue, Pahrump, Nevada.
However, DUBAWA’s efforts to find details about the arrest and any filed court records from the Supreme Court of Nevada via (702) 486-9300 and Nye County Court Clerk via (775) 751-7040 yielded no results as the operators could not find any record under Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu’s name.
Conclusion
Based on DUBAWA’s interaction with officials of the Nevada Southern Detention Center, DUBAWA confirms that Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, as of January 16, 2026, has been detained in the US and in the custody of the US Marshals Service.
