2014 and 2015 Ghana Power Plant $1M Bribery Scheme: U.S.-Ghanaian Ex-Goldman Sachs Banker Convicted
A federal jury in the United States has convicted dual U.S.-Ghanaian citizen Asante Kwako Berko, 52, for his role in a scheme to bribe Ghanaian government officials to secure a multi-million-dollar power plant deal in Ghana.
Berko, a former Executive Director in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs, was found guilty of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), violating the FCPA, and money laundering conspiracy. He faces a maximum of 30 years in prison. Sentencing is set for Nov. 10.
The Scheme
According to court documents and trial evidence, Berko conspired to pay more than $1 million in bribes to multiple Ghanaian officials between 2014 and 2015.
At the time, Berko was managing a deal between Aksa Enerji, a Turkish energy company and Goldman Sachs client, and the Republic of Ghana for the construction and financing of a power plant during Ghana’s national energy crisis. The project was estimated to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.
Prosecutors said Berko and co-conspirators, including senior executives at Aksa Enerji, paid bribes to officials at various levels of government to ensure the Turkish firm won the bid.
In April 2015, discussions included a proposed $1 million payment to the Minister of Power to secure key approvals. Five other Ghanaian officials were also allegedly given $5,000 each during an all-expenses-paid trip to Turkey to inspect equipment for the plant.
After Parliament ratified the deal in July 2015, Berko and others emailed extensively about the bribe payments. Evidence showed Berko personally paid tens of thousands of dollars in bribes and was still owed money.
Cover-up and Money Laundering
To hide the scheme from Goldman Sachs’ compliance team, Berko lied during vetting and used his personal email to discuss the bribes. The group also used shell companies, sham invoices, nominee accounts, and cash withdrawals to launder payments through U.S. and foreign bank accounts, including accounts in Berko’s name.
Goldman Sachs eventually withdrew from the deal citing corruption concerns.
U.S. Officials React
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said the case shows the U.S. will not tolerate corruption in global business.
“We live in a global economy that American companies must be able to compete in fairly… This defendant corrupted that fair competition,” Duva stated.
U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. for the Eastern District of New York called it “another significant victory in this Office’s longstanding commitment to rooting out corruption,” adding that Berko “abused his access to high-level foreign government officials… to greedily line his own pockets.”
FBI Acting Assistant Director Matthew B. Floyd said, “Engaging in bribery damages the reputation of businesses and destroys fair competition… The FBI will not tolerate dishonesty or corruption.”
International Cooperation
The FBI led the investigation with assistance from the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI’s Law Enforcement Attaché in Accra, Ghana’s Office of the Attorney-General International Cooperation Unit, and Ghana’s Office of the Special Prosecutor. The UK’s National Extradition Unit and U.S. Marshals Service also assisted in Berko’s arrest and extradition.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant Chief Katherine Raut, Senior Trial Attorney Katherine Nielsen, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Weigel, Nick M. Axelrod, and Tara McGrath.
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