A former investment banker with Goldman Sachs has been convicted on bribery and money laundering charges. The case involves a scheme to bribe government officials in Ghana, to influence the awarding of power plant construction contracts to a client of the firm.
A federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Asante Kwaku Berko, a former executive director at Goldman Sachs, for paying over US$1 million in bribes between 2014 and 2017 to various Ghanian government officials in an effort to secure a deal for a Turkish energy company and Goldman client, Aksa Enerji Uretim A.S., to build and operate a power plant in Ghana.
Among other things, the deal was expected to generate over US$10 million in fees for the bank for financing the project.
According to U.S. authorities, Berko hid the scheme from Goldman by lying to the firm’s compliance team that was responsible for vetting the deal, and hiding the illicit payments by funnelling them through shell companies, falsifying financial records and laundering the payments through various U.S. and foreign bank accounts.
Ultimately, Goldman withdrew from the deal due to corruption concerns.
In 2020, Berko was charged by U.S. authorities in the Eastern District of New York in an indictment that alleged conspiracy and direct violations of the anti-bribery provisions of U.S. anti-corruption laws, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
In mid-2024, Berko was extradited from the U.K. to face the charges. He pled not guilty, but has now been convicted on all counts following a jury trial.
In 2021, Berko settled parallel allegations from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which imposed a permanent injunction against him for violating anti-corruption laws, and required him to disgorge US$329,000 in ill-gotten gains.