Behind the Scenes: How OSP Provided Key Evidence in Kwaku Asante Berko’s $1M Bribery Conviction

• Ghana's Office of the Special Prosecutor has disclosed its covert cooperation with the FBI in a bribery case involving a former Goldman Sachs banker
• Kwaku Asante Berko, 52, was convicted by a Brooklyn federal jury on August 6, 2026, for paying over $1 million in bribes to Ghanaian officials
• Ghana's Deputy Attorney-General confirmed local authorities are working with US counterparts to pursue others implicated in the scheme

Ghana's Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has publicly disclosed its behind-the-scenes role in assisting the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a collaboration that contributed to the federal conviction of former Goldman Sachs banker Kwaku Asante Berko.

Berko, 52, who also served as Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery, was found guilty on 6 August 2026 by a federal jury in Brooklyn.

According to a report by Graphic Online, he 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.

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OSP's role in Asante Berko's prosecution

In an official statement released on August 10, the OSP confirmed it had supplied critical evidence to US investigators through Ghana's mutual legal assistance framework.

The office described the verdict as "a testament to the importance of mutual legal assistance," and US authorities formally acknowledged that the OSP provided "significant assistance to this prosecution."

The disclosure marks a rare public acknowledgement of cross-border intelligence sharing between Ghanaian and American law enforcement agencies in a major corruption case.

Asante Berko is scheduled to be sentenced on November 10 and faces a maximum prison term of 30 years.

Ghana pursues officials in Berko's scandal

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 Honourable Attorney-General is working with his United States counterparts to bring to book persons who are implicated in the bribery scheme related to the 2014-2017 power plant development contract between a Turkish energy company and the Government," Dr Srem Sai said.

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The statement signals that Berko's conviction may not be the conclusion of Ghana's domestic response to the scandal, with officials indicating that others connected to the scheme remain under scrutiny.

List of Ghanaian officials in Berko's scandal

In a related development, YEN.com.gh reported that the US SEC had 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 were among those allegedly implicated in the scandal involving millions of dollars.

The disclosures had prompted calls from anti-corruption organisations and legal experts for the Office of the Special Prosecutor to act.

Source: YEN.com.gh