Anti-Fraud Initiative Ghana (AFIG) and international investigation firm IYE Global have announced a strategic collaboration designed to strengthen the prevention, investigation and resolution of financial crime across Ghana and wider African markets.
The collaboration responds to a growing and increasingly complex problem.
Fraud is evolving faster than many of the systems designed to prevent it. Digital payments, online investment, cryptocurrency, remote business relationships and cross-border commerce have created significant opportunities for growth, but they have also expanded the reach of organised fraud networks, corrupt actors and financially motivated criminals.
Victims are often left navigating banks, regulators, law-enforcement agencies and recovery processes without a clear understanding of what happened, where their money went or what action remains available.
At the same time, organisations are frequently expected to make high-value decisions using compliance processes that confirm information has been supplied but do not always establish whether that information can be trusted.
AFIG and IYE Global intend to address both sides of this problem.
Closing the Gap Between Fraud Prevention and Fraud Resolution
The strategic collaboration will create a more connected approach to financial crime.
Where fraud has already occurred, AFIG and IYE Global will work to improve access to credible investigation, evidence development, cryptocurrency and financial tracing, and appropriate recovery or enforcement pathways.
Where organisations remain exposed to fraud, the collaboration will support stronger decision-making before money is transferred, investments are made, individuals are appointed or commercial relationships are approved.
The objective is not simply to respond to individual cases. It is to help create a stronger fraud-response environment in which:
Victims receive informed and responsible support.
Evidence is developed to a standard that banks, regulators, lawyers and law-enforcement agencies can act upon.
Organisations identify hidden risks before losses occur.
Fraud intelligence is converted into practical action.
Cross-border financial crime becomes more difficult to conceal and exploit.
Combining Local Understanding with International Capability
AFIG brings regional knowledge, local engagement and an established commitment to fraud prevention, victim protection and institutional accountability.
IYE Global brings international investigation experience, financial intelligence, cryptocurrency tracing, enhanced due diligence and the ability to investigate complex matters across jurisdictions.
The collaboration is designed to connect these capabilities.
This is particularly important in cases where victims, businesses, financial institutions and suspected offenders may be located in different countries, and where the movement of funds crosses banks, payment providers, digital assets and corporate structures.
Fraud is rarely contained by national borders. Effective responses cannot be limited by them either.
The Intelligence Backbone
Underpinning both the investigative and preventative elements of the collaboration will be Cobra AI™, IYE Global’s proprietary investigation and intelligence resource.
Cobra AI forms the intelligence backbone of IYE Global’s fraud investigation and resolution work, as well as the proactive protection delivered through Fraud Shield. It helps investigators analyse and connect information across individuals, companies, transactions, bank accounts, digital wallets, corporate structures and associated parties—exposing relationships and financial crime networks that may otherwise remain concealed.
In active fraud cases, it supports the reconstruction of events, tracing of funds and identification of beneficiaries, facilitators and investigative leads. In fraud prevention, it strengthens enhanced due diligence, transaction assessment, counterparty intelligence and the early identification of hidden commercial threats.
Cobra AI does not replace experienced investigators. It identifies anomalies and develops potential lines of enquiry that are then tested, interpreted and validated through professional investigative judgement.
This combination of proprietary technology and human expertise enables IYE Global to produce intelligence and conclusions that victims, organisations and decision-makers can act upon.
A Strategic Focus on Victims
A central purpose of the collaboration is to improve the experience of people affected by fraud.
Financial crime does not only remove money. It can damage health, wellbeing, employment, relationships, housing and long-term financial security. Victims may also experience shame, isolation and a loss of confidence in institutions intended to protect them.
The collaboration will therefore recognise victims as people requiring both investigative clarity and responsible support.
IYE Global’s victim-management model includes access to an internal mental health nurse, helping clients manage the emotional and practical effects of financial crime while their case is being assessed or investigated.
This approach is intended to ensure that victims are treated with dignity, kept properly informed and not reduced to a financial-loss figure.
Moving Beyond Conventional Compliance
The second strategic objective is prevention.
Many organisations already conduct KYC, screening and compliance checks. These processes remain important, but they may not reveal hidden relationships, criminal associations, conflicts of interest, corrupt influence, insider threats or the true commercial risk behind an apparently legitimate transaction.
Through Fraud Shield™, the collaboration will introduce organisations to a more intelligence-led approach.
IYE Global describes this as Commercial Decision Intelligence.
Commercial Decision Intelligence sits above conventional compliance. It combines data, intelligence, investigation and experienced human judgement to help organisations answer the questions that matter before a significant decision is made:
Who are we really dealing with?
What has not been disclosed?
Who controls or benefits from the relationship?
Is the transaction, investment or appointment consistent with the facts?
What could expose the organisation to financial, regulatory or reputational harm?
The purpose is not to create more information. It is to provide decision-makers with a clear, defensible assessment they can act upon.
Strengthening Institutional Resilience
The collaboration will also support organisations facing fraud, corruption and integrity risks across multiple sectors.
The emphasis will be on helping institutions identify threats earlier, strengthen internal controls, investigate suspicious activity and respond more effectively when incidents occur.
This may include risks connected to:
Financial transactions and payment systems.
Investments and commercial relationships.
Employee or insider misconduct.
Corruption and conflicts of interest.
Digital assets and cryptocurrency.
Fraudulent counterparties and concealed beneficial ownership.
Organised fraud networks operating across jurisdictions.
The broader ambition is to help organisations move from reactive loss management to informed prevention.
Statements from the Organisations
Isaac Obour, President of Anti-Fraud Initiative Ghana
“Fraud is not simply a private loss between a victim and an offender. It damages confidence in financial systems, undermines businesses, harms families and weakens trust in institutions.
“Africa requires a response that connects prevention, investigation, victim support and recovery. Too often, these areas operate separately, leaving victims without direction and organisations without the intelligence needed to protect themselves.
“This strategic collaboration brings together AFIG’s regional understanding and commitment to public protection with IYE Global’s international investigative capability. Our shared objective is to make fraud more difficult to commit, easier to expose and more effectively challenged.”
Ron Cornforth, CEO of IYE Global
“Fraudsters exploit fragmentation. They rely on the fact that victims, banks, regulators, businesses and investigators often hold different parts of the picture.
“This collaboration is about connecting those parts. It combines local knowledge with international investigation, victim support with evidential development, and compliance with experienced investigative judgement.
“Our role is not simply to collect information. It is to determine what that information means, identify the true risk and provide conclusions that people and organisations can rely upon.”
A Long-Term Commitment
The collaboration will initially focus on Ghana, with a wider objective of supporting organisations and victims across African markets.
AFIG and IYE Global will engage with businesses, professional bodies, financial-sector organisations, public-interest stakeholders and other relevant institutions to improve awareness, develop preventative capability and strengthen access to professional fraud investigation.
The strategic direction is clear:
Prevent fraud where possible.
Investigate it properly when it occurs.
Support victims throughout the process.
Develop evidence that can lead to action.
Help organisations make safer commercial decisions.
About Anti-Fraud Initiative Ghana (AFIG)
Anti-Fraud Initiative Ghana is a civil society organisation committed to combating fraud, corruption, financial crime and related economic harm.
Its work includes fraud awareness, prevention, victim support, institutional engagement, research, capacity building and collaboration with stakeholders seeking to strengthen Ghana’s response to financial crime.
About IYE Global
IYE Global is an international investigation and intelligence firm specialising in financial crime, complex fraud, cryptocurrency tracing, enhanced due diligence, background investigations, commercial intelligence and recovery-support investigations.
The firm works with victims, businesses, legal professionals, financial institutions, regulators and law-enforcement agencies where appropriate.
About Fraud Shield™
Fraud Shield is IYE Global’s intelligence-led fraud-prevention and Commercial Decision Intelligence framework. It helps organisations identify hidden risks involving people, transactions, investments, digital assets and commercial relationships before those risks develop into financial, regulatory or reputational damage.
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