New explosive details from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in the ongoing Asante Kwaku Berko bribery trial has implicated members of Ghana’s Parliament.
According to court filings from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, in August 2015, the group discussed $250,000 in payments to various individuals, including $46,000 to members of Ghana’s Parliament who had ratified the agreement.
The payment was made AFTER Parliament ratified the power purchase agreement for a Turkish energy company to build and operate a power plant in Ghana.
The Timeline The DOJ Laid Out:
April 2015: Berko and his co-conspirators paid bribes to five Ghanaian officials during an all-expenses-paid trip to Turkey to view equipment for the power plant, during which the officials each received $5,000.
July 2015: The Ghanaian Parliament ratified the power deal.
August 2015: Emails recovered by the FBI show Berko and his co-conspirators exchanged detailed emails regarding their bribe payments. They discussed $250,000 in bribe payments, including $20,000 to the “MoP Girls”— who were with the Ministry of Power and who a co-conspirator described as “vital to our communication and information acquisition”, and $46,000 to the MPs who ratified the deal.
Prosecutors say payments in furtherance of the scheme were laundered through U.S. and foreign bank accounts, including several in Berko’s name.
Asante Berko, 50, a dual U.S.-Ghana citizen and former Executive Director at Goldman Sachs International and former MD of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), is charged with conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and money laundering. He was extradited from the UK to the U.S. in July 2024 after being arrested in London in November 2022.
The SEC had earlier alleged Berko arranged at least $2.5 million to be funneled to a Ghana-based intermediary to pay bribes, and personally paid more than $60,000 to members of parliament.
If convicted, Berko faces up to 20 years for money laundering conspiracy and 5 years for each FCPA count.
The Big Question for Ghana: Who were the MPs who took the $46,000 in August 2015? Parliament records show which MPs were present and voted to ratify the Turkish power plant EPA in July 2015. The DOJ filings have not named them.
Alexander Afriyie, supervising editor, ghanacrimereport.com and ghanatalk.com