EOCO Targets Assets as Berko Bribery Case Widens
By Philip Antoh
The conviction of former Goldman Sachs banker Asante Kwaku Berko in a Brooklyn courtroom has triggered a widening investigation in Ghana, with the Economic and Organised Crime Office placing asset tracing and recovery at the centre of its probe – signalling that it intends to pursue money and property as hard as it pursues criminal liability.
Former Power Minister Dr Kwabena Donkor has moved to sever any link between his name and the case, issuing a emphatic denial through lawyers K.T. Hammond of Cavendish Chambers. But the questions raised by the US trial and the prosecution’s references to a “Senior Ghana Official” refuse to go away.
Berko, a dual US-Ghanaian citizen and former Tema Oil Refinery Managing Director, was found guilty on all counts on 6 August by a federal jury at the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison when sentenced on 10 November.
US prosecutors alleged that Berko, then an executive director in Goldman Sachs’ investment banking division, participated in a scheme to pay more than US$1 million in bribes to Ghanaian government officials between 2014 and 2015. The bribes were linked to the development and financing of a power plant project involving Turkish energy company Aksa Enerji Uretim A.S..
The charges against Berko included conspiracy to violate the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, violating the FCPA and conspiracy to commit money laundering. US prosecutors told the Brooklyn court that payments moved through shell companies, sham invoices, nominee account holders and cash withdrawals, with funds laundered through American and foreign bank accounts.
The US Department of Justice said Berko and alleged co-conspirators discussed paying US$1 million to the Ghanaian Minister of Power responsible for securing approvals. Payments were also allegedly made to other Ghanaian officials.
Berko was arrested in the United Kingdom in November 2022 after Interpol issued a Red Notice and was subsequently extradited to the United States in July 2024.
Donkor accepts that he was the relevant Minister at the time. He acknowledges that the State, through his ministry, negotiated with ASKA Energy during Ghana’s worst phase of load-shedding. A technical team from electricity sector stakeholders was sent to Istanbul, Turkey, to inspect equipment described as standard pre-shipment inspection practice.
Beyond that, Donkor draws a line. He has never met Berko, he says. He never discussed personal benefit with Berko or anyone else. He never authorised anyone to discuss such matters on his behalf. He never received money or personal benefit from Berko or any other person. Anyone who made a criminal demand in his name did so for their own benefit.
His lawyers took particular aim at references in the US proceedings to money allegedly sought for a “Senior Ghana Official”. Donkor does not accept that such claims constitute evidence of criminality against him. He also said he was unaware of any evidence from the US trial directly linking him to a demand for or receipt of money.
The statement concludes with a warning: any publication or statement that could be interpreted as contrary to these instructions, or that seeks to impugn Donkor’s reputation and integrity, will result in immediate legal proceedings.
EOCO’s investigation in Ghana began last year after it received a request from US authorities for information on individuals considered relevant to the bribery probe. The request sought information relating to specific individuals in Ghana, including a former Minister of State and public servants.
The Office worked with the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice to investigate the Ghanaian aspects while monitoring proceedings in the United States. Following Berko’s conviction, the Attorney-General engaged US authorities to obtain relevant evidence, records and information necessary to advance the Ghanaian investigation.
EOCO has now been directed by the Attorney-General to escalate its investigations as information is received through lawful international cooperation channels.
EOCO has made clear that asset tracing and recovery form an integral part of its investigative plan. The Office will examine whether any proceeds, benefits, assets or property may have been derived from or connected to suspected criminal conduct.
“Where the law permits,” EOCO said, it will pursue “the appropriate measures for their preservation, recovery and restitution to the State”. The Office intends to follow the evidence and financial trail, “including any relevant transactions, beneficiaries, assets and proceeds that may fall within its jurisdiction”.
The wording matters because of what American prosecutors told the Brooklyn court. Prosecutors described a sophisticated money-laundering operation involving shell companies and sham invoices that would require a domestic recovery effort to unpick at the Ghanaian end identifying who ultimately received value and what it was converted into over a decade.
EOCO’s mandate, the release said, extends beyond establishing whether an offence has been committed. “Where economic or organised crime results in the unlawful acquisition or dissipation of public resources, the recovery of such resources is an essential component of the investigative and enforcement process”.
EOCO used its public statement to defend its pace in terms that read as a direct answer to public criticism of Ghana’s anti-corruption agencies.
“This approach was deliberate. EOCO’s responsibility is not merely to commence investigations for the sake of public perception, but to ensure that investigations are properly grounded in evidence, conducted lawfully and capable where appropriate of supporting subsequent criminal proceedings and asset-recovery action”.
The Office, however, cautioned that Berko’s US conviction does not, by itself, establish criminal liability against any person in Ghana. “Any individual whose name appears in evidence obtained through the international cooperation process will be assessed independently on the basis of the evidence relevant to that person and in accordance with Ghanaian law”.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor also disclosed that it provided investigative and evidentiary support to the FBI, contributing to Berko’s conviction. The assistance was provided through Ghana’s established mutual legal assistance framework and was acknowledged by the US Department of Justice as having made “a significant contribution to the prosecution”.
Deputy Attorney-General Dr Justice Srem Sai confirmed that the Attorney-General is working with US counterparts “to bring to book persons who are implicated in the bribery scheme”.
EOCO has cautioned that Berko’s US conviction does not automatically establish criminal liability against anyone in Ghana. That is legally correct. But the reference in the US proceedings to a “Senior Ghana Official” and the prosecution’s assertion that Berko discussed paying US$1 million to the Minister of Power creates a shadow that Donkor’s denial alone may not dispel.
Donkor says he never met Berko. The US jury found that Berko conspired to bribe Ghanaian officials. Somewhere between those two propositions lies a gap that Ghana’s investigators must now fill or explain why they cannot.
The Berko case is a stress test for Ghana’s anti-corruption architecture. EOCO’s emphasis on asset recovery signals a welcome shift from the old pattern of prosecutions that leave stolen wealth untouched.
But the Office’s caution that Berko’s US conviction does not automatically establish liability for anyone in Ghana is both legally correct and politically convenient.
Donkor’s denial is emphatic, comprehensive and legally framed. But it also raises questions. If the former minister never met Berko, how did Berko and his alleged co-conspirators come to discuss paying US$1 million to the Minister of Power? If Donkor never authorised anyone to act on his behalf, who was it that prosecutors alleged was on the receiving end of the bribe?
The Attorney-General’s office says it is working with US counterparts to bring implicated persons to book. EOCO says it is escalating its investigation and will follow the financial trail. The OSP says it already helped the FBI secure the conviction.
The real test will come when the evidence from US authorities lands in Accra. Ghana’s anti-corruption agencies now have a choice. They can treat Donkor’s denial as the final word or they can test it against the evidence that US prosecutors have already placed on the record.
The Berko conviction has created a rare moment of international scrutiny. What Ghana does with it will be a measure of whether the country’s anti-corruption machinery is finally prepared to follow the evidence wherever it leads.
The question now is whether EOCO will follow the evidence wherever it leads, including to the former Minister of State and public servants whose names have already been flagged in US requests.
The Office says it will not disclose sensitive operational information that could compromise ongoing investigations. Fair enough. But the public has a right to know whether Ghana’s anti-corruption agencies are finally prepared to hold the powerful to account or whether the Berko case will join the long list of scandals that fade into bureaucratic silence.