Ghanaian musician has detained for the purchase of Lamborghini

Popular Ghanaian musician Shatta Wale was detained in a tax survey linked to his purchase of a luxury car, said his management.

Wale’s yellow Lamborghini was seized earlier this month at the request of the United States, which alleged that the vehicle was linked to the product of a criminal business.

The network would have involved another Ghanaian, Nana Kwabena Amuah, who is serving a sentence of seven years in prison in the United States for fraud.

The management of Wale did not mention the allegations of the United States in its declaration, saying rather that the artist had been detained for “tax obligations”.

In a statement published on social networks, the Wale team said that it had “voluntarily presented” to the Economic and Organized Ghana (EOCO) Bureau on Wednesday afternoon.

The EOCO has not yet responded to the request for comments from the BBC.

Wale, the real name Charles Nii Armah, is one of the best known stars in Ghana.

He built an extremely successful career on the Dancehall sound of Jamaica and strengthened his world profile by already collaborating Beyoncé on his 2019 song.

After his Lamborghini was seized earlier this month in a survey linked to Nana Kwabena Amuah, Wale denied knowledge or connection with the Ghanaian.

He said he was a “third -party owner” of the car of $ 150,000 (£ 110,000) and that he did not know who had shipped him to the country.

EOCO said the car would have returned to the United States to help the restitution of the victims of Amuah.

Amuah and his co-conspirators had usurped the identity of sellers to defraud nearly 70 public and private organizations across the country, according to American judicial archives.

Wednesday, Wale’s management urged fans to stay calm and avoid speculation while the musician remained in detention.

“We want to ensure all fans and the general public that his legal team is fully committed and actively works with the authorities to resolve this issue,” the statement said.

The seizure of the Wale Lamborghini is part of a wider operation – Ghana has worked with the United States to dismantle an international fraud network that targets Americans.

This month, the FBI and the United States Ministry of Justice extradited and arrested three Ghanaian nationals who would be the brains of a fraud program of $ 100 million, which involved Romanesque scams and phishing attacks.