Asante Kwaku Berko, a former managing director of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) who was arrested on charges that he orchestrated bribes to Ghanaian officials while employed at the investment bank Goldman Sachs, has been extradited to the US from the UK. He is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Ghana to face charges in the Eastern District of New York related to his alleged involvement in a bribery scheme targeting Ghanaian officials.
Asante Kwaku Berko, 50, who served as an executive director in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs, allegedly conspired with others between December 2014 and March 2017 to execute a multi-year bribery and money laundering operation. The indictment claims Berko was part of a Goldman Sachs team that facilitated a deal between a Turkish energy company and the Republic of Ghana to build and finance a power plant.
Court documents reveal that Berko and his co-conspirators purportedly offered and paid over $70,000 in bribes to Ghanaian officials to secure the successful bid for the Turkish energy company. The charges against Berko include 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, Berko could face up to 20 years in prison for money laundering conspiracy and five years for each FCPA-related charge.
This case is being investigated by the FBI’s International Corruption Unit. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York, and Executive Assistant Director Michael Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch announced the extradition and charges.
