The former Finance Minister of Ghana Ken Ofori-Atta, who is wanted at home on corruption allegations, has been detained in the U.S. over issues related to his immigration status.

Ghana has previously requested Ofori-Atta’s extradition, but his lawyers are challenging this, saying the allegations against him are politically motivated.

 According to his legal team, Ofori-Atta left Ghana last year for medical reasons.

In a statement, Ofori-Atta’s lawyers said their client was law-abiding and was in the process of applying to change his immigration status allowing him to stay in the US past the period of validity of his visa.

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