A Ghanaian-American man, Asante Kwaku Berko, has been extradited to the United States from the United Kingdom to be prosecuted for allegedly bribing Ghanaian government officials to secure a power plant deal and laundering the payments through the US financial system.
The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) said in a statement that Berko, 50, was extradited to the country on Monday, July 15.
He made his first appearance on Tuesday, July 16, before Magistrate Judge Vera M. Scanlon of federal court in the Eastern District of New York to face charges related to his participation in a scheme to bribe Ghanaian officials to obtain and retain business from the Republic of Ghana.
According to court documents, between December 2014 and March 2017, Berko, while an executive director in the Investment Banking Division of a wholly owned subsidiary of a U.S. global investment banking, securities, and investment management firm, allegedly conspired with others in connection with a multi-year bribery and money laundering scheme.
The DoJ said that during this time, Berko was a member of the team at the firm that was responsible for securing and managing a deal between its client, a Turkish energy company, and the Republic of Ghana to build a power plant in Ghana and to provide financing for the plant.
Berko and others allegedly offered and paid more than $70,000 in bribes to government officials in Ghana in exchange for their assistance in ensuring that the Turkish energy company was successful in winning the bid to build and operate the power plant.
Berko is charged with one count of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), one count of violating the FCPA, and one count of conspiring to commit money laundering.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for conspiring to commit money laundering and five years in prison for each count of violating the FCPA and conspiring to violate the FCPA.