Fugitive Ghanaian Official Extradited from U.S. to Serve 10 Years for Stealing $6M from Microfinance Agency
LAS VEGAS — A former Ghanaian government official who fled to the United States while on trial for corruption has been extradited back to her home country to serve a 10-year prison sentence for stealing more than $6 million in public funds, the U.S. Justice Department announced.
Sedina Christine Tamakloe Attionu, 60, a Ghanaian citizen also known as “Sedina Sharon Christine Acolatse,” was surrendered to Ghanaian authorities by the U.S. Marshals Service on June 8. She will now serve a decade behind bars following her conviction on over 70 criminal counts, including stealing, conspiracy, causing financial loss to the state, money laundering, and other offenses.
Attionu was found guilty of exploiting her role as Chief Executive Officer of Ghana’s Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), a government agency designed to provide low-interest loans to small and medium-sized businesses. Prosecutors said that from November 2013 to January 2017, Attionu systematically looted the agency’s coffers through a variety of brazen schemes.
According to court documents, Attionu directly stole funds remitted to MASLOC, pocketed public money earmarked for outreach, training, and disaster relief programs, and used taxpayer funds to buy cars and cellphones at grossly inflated prices. She also made extra, unearned payments to herself and a co-conspirator.
Attionu initially attended her trial in Ghana and was present for the prosecution’s presentation of witnesses. She then obtained court permission to travel to the United States for medical treatment but never returned. After concluding that her absence was unjustified, the Ghanaian court issued a warrant for her arrest, proceeded with the trial, and on April 16, 2024, found her guilty on all counts, sentencing her to 10 years in prison.
Ghana formally requested her extradition. U.S. authorities obtained an arrest warrant in December 2025, and Attionu was taken into custody on Jan. 6 in Nevada. Following extradition hearings, a U.S. magistrate judge certified her extradition on April 9, and the Secretary of State authorized her surrender.
The extradition was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Oliva of the District of Nevada, working alongside the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs (OIA). Key support came from the FBI’s Legal Attaché Office in Accra, the Ghana Police Service’s INTERPOL National Central Bureau, and Ghana’s Economic and Organised Crime Office.
Little is known about Attionu’s personal life. Born in the early 1970s in Ghana, she is married to a Mr. Tamakloe, though no further details about her husband, children, or parents are publicly available. Her estimated net worth, as of 2026, is believed to be approximately $1 million.
Former Taliban Commander Gets 42 Years in U.S. Prison for Deadly Attacks on American Troops and Kidnapping of NYT Journalist
NEW YORK — A former Taliban commander who orchestrated a 2008 ambush that killed three U.S. soldiers and later kidnapped an American journalist at gunpoint was sentenced to 42 years in federal prison on Wednesday, delivering a measure of justice more than a decade and a half after his brutal campaign of terror.
Haji Najibullah, 50, of Afghanistan, also known by several aliases including “Abu Tayeb,” pleaded guilty on April 25, 2025, to hostage taking and providing material support for acts of terrorism resulting in death. U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla imposed the sentence, which also includes five years of supervised release.
“This former Taliban commander led fighters who committed acts of terrorism that resulted in the killing of U.S. servicemembers and engaged in hostage-taking, and now he will pay the price for his brutal crimes,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The men and women of the FBI will not forget when Americans are killed or taken hostage by terrorists.”
Between approximately 2007 and 2009, Najibullah served as a Taliban commander in Afghanistan’s Wardak Province, which borders Kabul. During that time, fighters under his command carried out deadly attacks against American and NATO troops using suicide bombers, automatic weapons, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and rocket-propelled grenades.
According to court documents, Najibullah proudly spoke about the brutality his men were prepared to commit, stating that they were “ready to die” and would “put on a belt and blow themselves up if we ask them.”
On June 26, 2008, Taliban fighters under Najibullah’s command ambushed a U.S. military convoy in Wardak Province using IEDs, RPGs, and automatic weapons. The attack killed three U.S. Army servicemembers — Sergeants First Class Matthew L. Hilton and Joseph A. McKay, and Sergeant Mark Palmateer — along with their Afghan interpreter. Several other servicemembers were injured.
Najibullah later claimed responsibility for the attack, telling multiple individuals that his men carried it out and that it resulted in the deaths of American servicemembers. Months later, he and his fighters attacked and destroyed an Afghan National Police outpost, reportedly killing three Afghan police officers.
But his campaign of terror also targeted civilians. On Nov. 10, 2008, Najibullah and other Taliban fighters kidnapped an American New York Times journalist and two Afghan nationals traveling with him at gunpoint in Afghanistan. For approximately seven months, Najibullah held the hostages captive in Taliban-controlled tribal areas of Pakistan, guarded around the clock by armed fighters.
Najibullah and his co-conspirators forced the hostages to make ransom calls and record “proof of life” videos intended to extort payments and the release of Taliban prisoners by the U.S. government. In one video, with a machine gun pointed at his head, the journalist emotionally pleaded for his life: “If you don’t help me, I will die. Now, the key is in your hand. If you do not meet their demands, you will be responsible for my killing, not the Taliban. Please help me, please have mercy on me. Do not shed my blood. Please, save me. I want to go home.”
The hostages eventually escaped and returned to their families.
“Those who harm Americans and engage in acts of terrorism will be hunted down and brought to justice, no matter how long it takes,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “As a Taliban commander, Najibullah supported brutal terrorist attacks that killed American servicemembers and orchestrated the savage hostage-taking of an American journalist and Afghan civilians. Today’s sentence delivers justice for the victims and their families.”
The prosecution was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, with assistance from Ukrainian authorities and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs in arresting and transferring the defendant to the United States.
“Haji Najibullah is a convicted terrorist whose conduct resulted in the brutal hostage taking of innocent civilians and the killing of U.S. servicemembers,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York. “He caused unimaginable harm to the victims of his crimes and their loved ones. Today’s sentence sends a clear message that there will be dire consequences for those who aim to harm Americans and our brave military personnel through acts of terror.”
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