The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, has revealed that the total amount of money lost to the National Service ghost names scandal now stands at GH¢2.2 billion; nearly four times the initial estimate of GH¢548 million announced earlier this year.

Dr Ayine disclosed the revised figure at a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, following a comprehensive forensic audit conducted by the Auditor-General’s Department.

In June this year, the Attorney-General’s office had uncovered that more than GH¢548 million had been siphoned through a criminal syndicate operating within the National Service Authority (NSA).

Twelve suspects were subsequently charged with stealing and causing financial loss to the state, while the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) detained several senior officials, including former NSA Director-General Osei Assibey Antwi and other deputies, as part of efforts to retrieve diverted funds.

However, according to the Attorney-General, the latest audit paints an even grimmer picture of the scale of corruption within the scheme.

“I wish to announce that the Auditor-General has conducted a forensic audit into the National Service scandal, and the total amount of money stolen or illegally spent now stands at GH¢2.2 billion, and not the GH¢548 million that was uncovered by my investigators as at June 2025. I have here a copy of the Auditor-General’s report,” Dr Ayine stated.

He said his office would amend the existing charge sheet in light of the new findings to bring fresh charges against the suspects.

“We are going to base upon this, in some cases, amend our charge sheet in order to bring fresh charges,” he added.

Dr Ayine also revealed that investigations were still ongoing into several other high-profile cases involving the misuse of public funds. These include the All African Games project, the procurement of mathematical sets, the construction of the Bank of Ghana’s new headquarters, the renovation of national stadia, and the controversial National Cathedral project.

“In the case of the National Cathedral, we have requested that the Auditor-General should conduct another forensic audit, and he is being helped by one of the big four accounting companies,” the Attorney-General said.

The latest revelation marks one of the largest recorded financial losses to the state in recent years and is expected to reignite public debate over accountability and oversight within Ghana’s public sector institutions.