TOR Boss Caught in US$2.5 million “Intermediary” Bribes to Gov’t Officials

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the Chief Executive Officer of the Tema Oil Refinery Asante Berko for arranging some $2.5 million in bribes to be paid to Ghana government officials between 2015 and 2016 and also Parliamentarians from both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Asante Berko who was recently appointed by President Akufo Addo to head TOR after the former Managing Director was hounded out, was a banker at Goldman Sachs in the Banking Capital of the USA. He was the adviser for a Turkish-owned Independent Power Producer (IPP) that was planning to set up shop in Ghana.

The names of the culprits were not mentioned in the SEC complaint filed against Mr. Berko in a United States District Court in New York. However, the transaction happened during the administration of the then NDC and was extended by the current NPP administration.

Incidentally, there are about two Turkish owned IPPs currently operating in Ghana, but It is unclear which of them the SEC complaint may be referring to.

According to the SEC suit, Asante Berko, was the arranger of some US$ 150 million financing between the Turkish company and the Government of Ghana, and that responsible for siphoning at least $2.5 million to a Ghana-based intermediary to pay illicit bribes to Ghanaian government officials in order to gain their approval of an electrical power plant project.

The complaint further alleges that Berko helped the intermediary pay more than $200,000 in bribes to various other government officials, and Berko personally paid more than $60,000 to members of the Ghanaian parliament and other government officials. According to the complaint, Berko took deliberate measures to prevent his employer from detecting his bribery scheme, including misleading his employer’s compliance personnel about the true role and purpose of the intermediary company.

“As alleged in our complaint, Berko orchestrated a scheme to bribe high-level Ghanaian officials in pursuit of firm business and his own enrichment. Berko’s misconduct was egregious and individual accountability remains a key component to our FCPA enforcement efforts,” said Charles Cain, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s FCPA Unit. “The firm’s compliance personnel took appropriate steps to prevent the firm from participating in the transaction and it is not being charged.”

The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, charges Berko with violating the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA and federal securities laws. The SEC is seeking monetary penalties against Berko among other remedies.

Meanwhile, the embattled Berko is denying the serious allegations levelled against him. In a statement from him sighted by Whatsup News, Berko said: “While it is true that the SEC has just this week issued such proceedeings against me, the allegations that government officials and Members of Parliament were bribed by me, are completely false…I state categorically that I have not paid any bribe.”

Critics have questioned President Akufo Addo’s appointment of such a person to the highly volatile TOR without proper due diligence.