List of the Bribes Asante Berko Paid to Ghanaian Officials, Including $20,000 for "MoP Girls"

• The US SEC exposed an international bribery scheme linking five prominent Ghanaians to the former Tema Oil Refinery Managing Director
• Sitting Members of Parliament and a former cabinet minister are among those allegedly implicated in the scandal involving millions of dollars
• The disclosures have prompted calls from anti-corruption organisations and legal experts for the Office of the Special Prosecutor to act

Ghana continues to reel from the implications of the conviction of former Goldman Sachs banker and Akufo-Addo appointee Kwaku Asante Berko.

Berko was convicted for channelling more than $1 million in bribes to Ghanaian government officials between 2014 and 2017, in order to secure a power plant development contract for Turkish energy company Aksa Enerji.

Ghana's Deputy Attorney General, Dr Justice Srem Sai, confirmed that domestic authorities are actively engaging their US counterparts to widen the net of accountability.

The verdict on Berko came after a nine-day trial before US District Judge Diane Gujarati, and he now faces up to 30 years in prison at sentencing. He has been remanded pending that date.

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Breakdown of amounts given to Ghanaian officials

• $500,000 — first bribe wire, April 2015 (Invoice 1), Turkey -3 Ghana via New York
• $1.5 million — second wire, May 2015 (Invoice 2), the same day the senior official signed the deal
• $5,000 each — paid to about 5 officials flown to Turkey to "inspect equipment," on top of flights and hotels.
• $140,000 — a later reimbursement settlement wire (this is the specific charge in Count Two)

The itemised bribe list

Per a "Breakdown of funds" email from August 2015 reported by Joy News, below are the officials who received certain bribe amounts.

• Public Utilities Regulator (PURC): $20,000
• A named Ghanaian official: $10,000
• "MoP Girls" (Ministry of Power staff): $20,000
• "Power Team": $25,000
• GridCo engineers: $20,000
• Parliament: $30,000
• Travel/visas for the Turkey trip: about $45,000-$50,000

How the Bribery scheme allegedly operated

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According to the US SEC's findings, the scheme was designed to obtain favourable contract terms and state-level approvals for the power project.

Public officers, parliamentarians, and individuals described as influence brokers were among those who allegedly received funds as part of the arrangement.

The use of intermediary companies to route the payments added a layer of concealment to the transactions.

The involvement of sitting legislators and a former minister in the alleged scheme has sharpened public scrutiny of oversight mechanisms within Ghana's energy sector and broader public procurement processes.

Source: YEN.com.gh