Former TOR Boss Asante Berko Still Facing Extradition To US Over Bribery Despite Winning Appeal
- A former managing director of the Tema Oil Refinery, Asante Berko, is still facing extradition to the US despite a legal win
- Asante Berko successfully appealed against three charges in the case in which he has been accused of bribery
- In April 2022, the US Security and Exchange Commission charged Berko with facilitating at least $4.5 million in bribes
Asante Berko, a former managing director of the Tema Oil Refinery, is still facing extradition to the US despite winning an appeal in the case in which he was accused of bribing some Ghanaian officials.
The accusations relate to his time as a banker at Goldman Sachs. In 2020, Berko was charged with six offences in New York.
Source: UGC
Reuters reported that he appealed against the decision to extradite him at London's High Court last month after a judge sent his case to British ministers in 2023.
Berko's lawyers said he could not be extradited on three charges related to failing to file reports of foreign bank accounts in the US. This is because it is not a criminal offence in the UK.
They also argued that Berko's alleged offending occurred in the UK or Ghana and thus should not stand trial in the US.
The judge then ruled that Berko should not be extradited to face the three charges of failing to file reports of foreign bank accounts.
The judge said Berko could not be convicted and imprisoned for an offence that was not a crime in the UK. However, the judge rejected the rest of Berko's appeal, meaning he still faces extradition.
Why was Berko charged?
In April 2022, the US Security and Exchange Commission charged Berko with facilitating at least $4.5 million in bribes.
The alleged bribes were to help a Turkish energy company win a contract to build a power plant in Ghana.
Berko was accused of paying at least $66,000 to members of the Ghanaian parliament. He was eventually arrested in the UK over the bribery scheme.
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YEN.com.gh reported that Stephen Ntim, the New Patriotic Party chairman, was appointed board chairman of the National Petroleum Authority.
Stephen Ntim replaces Joe Addo-Yobo, who had served as the authority’s board chairman since 2017.
He was sworn into office on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, by Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh.
Proofread by Edwina N.K Quarcoo, journalist and copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
