[2] At the time of the scandal, Soussoudis was a Ghanaian intelligence officer with permanent residence in the United States.
Soussoudis formed a romantic relationship with CIA employee Sharon Scranage sometime between May 27, 1983, and October 1984,[3] eventually getting her to confide confidential information to him.
[3] Upon Scranage's return to the U.S. she failed a routine polygraph test, and further questioning led to the CIA uncovering how much information Soussoudis had obtained from her.
American authorities claimed that Scranage had handed Soussoudis "sensitive documents and the names of virtually everyone working for the C.I.A.
[1][8] During a closed court hearing, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but he was eventually traded in exchange for eight of the agents whose identities he had helped compromise in Ghana.
[9] The information Soussoudis obtained from Sharon Scranage led to the arrest of eight Ghanaian citizens who had been spying for the CIA.
[10] Among the eight arrested in Ghana included Naval Captain Oppong, Colonel Bray, Abel Edusei, Adu Gyamfi, and Major John Kwaku Awuakye.
[11] These eight CIA spies were stripped of their Ghanaian citizenship before being deported to the United States, and being relocated in the Virginia, D.C., area.