A US court awarded Ghanaian investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas $18m (£14m) in damages, after a jury said he was defamed by former Ghanaian MP Kennedy Agyapong.

The case stems from comments Agyapong made about Anas after his BBC investigation in 2018 that exposed football corruption in Ghana and elsewhere.

The court heard that Agyapong, among other accusations made on a podcast, had called the reporter a “criminal” and alleged he was behind the murder of fellow journalist Ahmed Suale

Anas lost a similar legal action in Ghana seven years ago. But after the release of the podcast episode in 2021 Anas went to court in the US state of New Jersey where Agyapong has a property.

The politician was in New Jersey when he was interviewed for the Daddy Fred Show podcast, according to court papers filed by his lawyers.

Last week’s initial verdict was confirmed on Tuesday. The $18m in damages was the result of a unanimous decision by an eight-member jury in Essex County Superior Court in New Jersey, finding Agyapong liable for defamation.

The figure included $8m in punitive damages.

“Justice has prevailed. This victory is not just for me, but for truth, press freedom, and every journalist who risks everything to expose corruption and wrongdoing,” Anas said in response.

“No amount of intimidation or falsehood will silence the pursuit of accountability even in the face of assassination. Our work continues, undeterred and unafraid.”

The journalist, who has won multiple international awards for his reporting, has vowed to continue fighting corruption and holding wrongdoers accountable.

Agyapong’s lawyers had unsuccessfully argued that the case should not have been brought in the US in the first place. They also said that the comments made on the podcast were the kinds of things other courts had described as hyperbole and opinion and were not subject to a defamation case.

Meanwhile, police in Ghana have arrested a suspect in connection with the murder of Anas’ colleague, Ahmed Hussein Suale, who was killed in 2019.

The suspect allegedly shared pictures of the undercover journalist with a popular Ghanaian politician before his death.

The death of Ahmed was also linked to a football corruption exposé.

The investigation sought to expose corruption in African football and was reported by BBC Africa Eye.