A federal jury has convicted a dual U.S.-Ghanaian citizen for his role in a scheme to bribe Ghanaian government officials to secure a multi-million-dollar power plant project.
Case Details
Asante Kwako Berko, 52, was found guilty of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), violating the FCPA, and money laundering conspiracy. He faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for Nov. 10.
According to court documents and trial evidence, Berko, a former Executive Director in Goldman Sachs’ Investment Banking Division, conspired to pay more than $1 million in bribes between December 2014 and July 2015.
He was tasked with managing a deal between a Turkish energy company, Aksa Enerji, and the Republic of Ghana to build and finance a power plant during a national energy crisis.
Prosecutors demonstrated that Berko and his co-conspirators paid off individuals across multiple levels of the Ghanaian government to ensure Aksa Enerji won the contract.
Investigation and Prosecution
The case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI’s Law Enforcement Attaché in Accra, the International Cooperation Unit of Ghana’s Office of the Attorney-General, and Ghana’s Office of the Special Prosecutor.
The prosecution was led by Assistant Chief Katherine Raut, Senior Trial Attorney Katherine Nielsen, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Weigel, Nick M. Axelrod, and Tara McGrath.
Original reporting: Tampa Free Press — read the source article.
