Source: United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York, Thursday, August 6, 2026
“Defendant Asante Kwaku Berko Paid More than $1 Million in Bribes Related to the Development of a Power Plant in Ghana
BROOKLYN, NY – Asante Kwaku Berko, a dual citizen of the United States and Ghana, was convicted today by a federal jury in Brooklyn on all counts of an indictment charging conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), violating the FCPA, and money laundering conspiracy for paying bribes to Ghanaian government officials in connection with the development of a power plant in Ghana. The verdict followed a nine-day trial before United States District Judge Diane Gujarati. When sentenced, Berko faces up to 30 years in prison. Berko was ordered remanded pending sentencing.”
“During the scheme, Berko and his co-conspirators paid and conspired to pay bribes to individuals at numerous levels of the Ghanaian government to ensure that Aksa won its bid to build and operate the power plant.”
“To conceal the scheme from Goldman and others, Berko lied to the compliance team at Goldman that was responsible for vetting the deal. Berko also used his personal email account, instead of his Goldman business email account, to discuss the deal and the bribe payments and directed his co-conspirators to do the same. In addition, Berko and his co-conspirators concealed and laundered the bribe payments using shell companies, sham invoices, nominee account holders and cash withdrawals. Payments in furtherance of the bribery scheme were laundered through U.S. and foreign bank accounts. Goldman ultimately withdrew from the deal due to corruption concerns.”