Today, a federal jury convicted a dual U.S.-Ghanaian citizen for his role in a scheme to bribe Ghanaian officials in connection with the development and financing of a multi-million-dollar power plant in Ghana.
“We live in a global economy that American companies must be able to compete in fairly,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This defendant corrupted that fair competition. He abused his position at a world-renowned American investment bank by helping bribe Ghanaian officials, so he and his co-conspirators, including senior executives at a Turkish company, could make money. Today’s conviction makes clear that criminals who undermine our country’s interests by corrupting foreign governments and cutting off fair competition will face the full force of the Department of Justice.”
“Today’s verdict marks another significant victory in this Office’s longstanding commitment to rooting out corruption,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. for the Eastern District of New York. “The defendant abused his access to high-level foreign government officials and his platform as an investment banker at a prestigious American firm to greedily line his own pockets.”
“Engaging in bribery damages the reputation of businesses and destroys fair competitions,” said Acting Assistant Director Matthew B. Floyd of FBI’s Criminal Division. “Berko intentionally lied to his company to continue his scheme. The FBI will not tolerate dishonesty or corruption from anyone who wishes to disturb the business market.”
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Asante Kwako Berko, 52, conspired to pay more than $1 million in bribes to multiple Ghanaian government officials in connection with the development and financing of a power plant estimated to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.
Beginning in December 2014, Berko, a former Executive Director in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs, was responsible for securing and managing a deal between Aksa Enerji, a Turkish energy company and client of Goldman Sachs, and the Republic of Ghana, for the construction and financing of a power plant in Ghana amidst a national energy crisis in the country.
During the scheme, Berko and his co-conspirators paid and conspired to pay bribes to individuals at numerous levels of the Ghanaian government to ensure that the Turkish Energy company won its bid to build and operate the power plant. In April 2015, Berko and the conspirators discussed paying $1 million to the Minister of Power who was responsible for securing key approvals enabling the project to progress.
Bribes were also paid 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. After the power plant deal was ratified by the Ghanaian parliament in July 2015, Berko and his co-conspirators emailed about their bribe payments at length. The evidence further detailed tens of thousands of dollars in bribes that Berko had personally paid and for which he was still owed.
To conceal the scheme from Goldman Sachs and others, Berko lied to Goldman’s compliance team that was responsible for vetting the deal and he used his personal, non-official-business email account when talking about the bribes. Berko and his co-conspirators also concealed and laundered the bribe payments using shell companies, sham invoices, nominee account holders and cash withdrawals. Payments in furtherance of the bribery scheme were laundered through U.S. and foreign bank accounts, including several in Berko’s name. Goldman ultimately withdrew from the deal due to corruption concerns.
The jury convicted Berko of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), violating the FCPA, and money laundering conspiracy. A sentencing date has not been set. He faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI is investigating the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the FBI’s Law Enforcement Attaché in Accra worked with the International Cooperation Unit of the Office of the Attorney-General of Ghana, and Ghana’s Office of the Special Prosecutor, to provide significant assistance to this prosecution. The UK’s National Extradition Unit, the Crown Prosecution Service of England and Wales, the U.S. Embassy in London, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Marshals Service provided substantial assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of the defendant.
Assistant Chief Katherine Raut of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, Senior Trial Attorney Katherine Nielsen of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics, and Forfeiture Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Weigel, Nick M. Axelrod, and Tara McGrath for the Eastern District of New York are prosecuting the case.
The Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting FCPA and Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA) matters. Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA and FEPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/criminal-fraud/foreign-corrupt-practices-act.