Former Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Kweku Asante Berko, has been convicted in the United States for his role in a foreign bribery and money laundering scheme linked to the development of a power plant in Ghana.
Berko, who was previously charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), was found guilty of arranging and facilitating more than $1 million in bribe payments to influence the award of a power plant contract in Ghana.
According to U.S. regulators and information contained in civil court filings, Berko orchestrated the payment of millions of dollars in bribes to Ghanaian government officials to help a client secure the lucrative power project.
The SEC alleged that Berko, a former executive at Goldman Sachs’ London subsidiary, facilitated up to $4.5 million in bribe payments on behalf of a Turkish energy company seeking to win the contract. According to the complaint, the unnamed company channelled funds through an intermediary, who then distributed the bribes to Ghanaian public officials.
The SEC also alleged that Berko personally paid $66,000 in bribes to members of Ghana’s Parliament and other government officials between 2015 and 2016 to advance the deal.
An attorney representing Berko declined to comment on the SEC’s lawsuit, which accused him of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The law prohibits individuals and companies from offering anything of value to foreign government officials to obtain or retain business.
In its complaint, the SEC said Berko attempted to conceal the bribery scheme from Goldman Sachs after the bank’s compliance officers questioned the structure of the transaction. The investment bank ultimately withdrew from the project after the Turkish energy company failed to explain the role of the intermediary firm.
Berko, a former investment banker at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and a dual citizen of the United States and Ghana, was also charged with money laundering in connection with the scheme.
According to prosecutors, his criminal conduct took place between December 2014 and March 2017. During that period, he allegedly conspired with others to pay substantial bribes to ensure the Turkish company secured the contract to build and operate the power plant in Ghana. As an Executive Director in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs’ U.S. banking subsidiary, Berko played a key role in managing the transaction.
The conviction followed a nine-day trial before United States District Judge Diane Gujarati.
Berko remains in custody pending sentencing and faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
The verdict was announced by Joseph Nocella Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; A. Tysen Duva, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; and James C. Barnacle Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, in a statement released by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
