Asante Kwaku Berko
A former Managing Director of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Asante Kwaku Berko, has been extradited from the United Kingdom (UK) to the United States on Monday, July 15, 2024 to face prosecution for bribery allegations.
Mr. Berko faces prosecution for his alleged involvement in bribing Ghanaian government officials during the administration of former President John Dramani Mahama’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) to secure a lucrative power plant deal and laundering illicit payments through the US financial system.
According to the US Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York, Mr. Berko, a former Ghanaian-American banker, orchestrated a complex scheme involving the payment of substantial bribes to key officials, including government representatives, between December 2014 and March 2017. These dubious transactions were reportedly aimed at facilitating a power plant agreement with a Turkish energy company.
The indictment by the Attorney’s Office reveals damning details of the clandestine operation, stating, “During the scheme, Berko and his co-conspirators paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes—including to Ghanaian officials—to ensure the Turkish energy company won its bid to build and operate the power plant.”
The report uncovers explicit instances where bribes were extended to Ghanaian authorities, such as an all-expenses-paid trip to Turkey in April 2015, during which five officials allegedly received $5,000 each.
Following parliamentary approval of the power plant deal in July 2015, further evidence emerged of email exchanges detailing elaborate bribe payments. Notably, discussions in August 2015 reference substantial sums, including $250,000 disbursed to various recipients, with $20,000 designated for the “MoP Girls” from the Ghanaian Ministry of Power—deemed crucial for information dissemination to the conspirators.
Moreover, the meticulous progression of the bribery scheme encompassed multi-tiered money laundering operations spanning domestic and foreign bank accounts, several under Berko’s ownership.
Accounts indicate a sequence of transactional activities aimed at obfuscating the origins and destinations of tainted funds, underscoring the intricate web of deceit woven by the accused and accomplices.
By Vincent Kubi