The Bank of Ghana, BoG, working with the Ghana Police Service, has arrested seven persons in Accra for allegedly using Ghana cedi banknotes to make money bouquets and money cakes.
The suspects, all women, were picked up at different locations in the capital during a joint enforcement operation targeting the production and sale of the decorative items for weddings, birthdays, graduations and other celebrations.
Head of the Statistics Office at the Currency Management Department of the BoG, Dianah Bondzi, who confirmed the arrests, said the practice amounts to misuse and abuse of the national currency and is illegal.
“The Bank of Ghana wishes to issue a warning to the general public for using banknotes and coins to create money bouquets, money cakes for weddings, for birthdays, for graduations, and other similar events, which constitutes the misuse and abuse of the currency and it is illegal and unlawful,” Bondzi said.
She said the Ghana cedi is the legal tender of the Republic of Ghana and must be treated with respect and dignity, warning that anyone who engages in, aids, promotes or facilitates such acts risks arrest and prosecution.
The arrests follow a public notice issued by the central bank on July 14, 2026, which stated that using currency notes and coins as decorations, including money bouquets, jewellery and other artistic creations, is improper use and may constitute an offence under the Currency Act, 1964 (Act 242).
The notice also prohibits spraying money at events, scattering or stepping on banknotes, and tearing, crumpling, staining, defacing or mutilating banknotes and coins.
Bondzi said those arrested will be prosecuted and could face fines or imprisonment, adding that the enforcement should serve as a clear warning to vendors advertising money bouquets on social media.
Leave a comment