The Accra High Court has adjourned the case involving former Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, over an alleged financial loss of more than GH¢30 million to the Ghana Export-Import Bank (Exim Bank), to November 2 and 3, 2026.
The adjournment will allow the court to receive the prosecution’s disclosures and defence counsel to study the documents before proceedings continue.
At the hearing on Tuesday, October 27, the Deputy Attorney-General, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, who led the prosecution, told the court that the State had filed and served its disclosures on the defence in two batches, on October 23 and 26.
However, the court indicated that it had not received copies of the documents.
Counsel for the accused persons, Samuel Atta Akyea, said he had obtained his copy from the court registry on October 27 and needed sufficient time to examine the disclosures.
“I was going to invite the court to give me some latitude to peruse the documents. Because the liberty of the individual is at stake, I should be able to read through,” he said.
The court, presided over by Justice Halimah El-Alawa Abdul-Baasit, subsequently adjourned the matter to November 2 and 3 to allow time for the disclosures to be made available and reviewed.
The prosecution is yet to call its first witness in the Exim Bank case.
Background
Mr Antwi-Boasiako is standing trial alongside Thomas Antwi-Boasiako, who is at large, and Wontumi Farms Limited over an alleged financial loss exceeding GH¢30 million to Exim Bank.
The prosecution alleges that the accused persons obtained GH¢14.302 million from the bank in 2018 through false pretences in connection with a proposed farming project.
Mr Antwi-Boasiako faces five charges: defrauding by false pretence, two counts of uttering forged documents, money laundering and intentionally causing financial loss to a public body.
The prosecution further alleges that documents submitted to secure funding for the project were forged or altered and that the proposed farming activities were not undertaken.
Mr Antwi-Boasiako has pleaded not guilty to all five charges.
