Martin Amidu points to $3million in 2016–2017 transfers in Asante Berko bribery case
Former Attorney-General and Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has pointed to money transfers recorded in the United States court proceedings against Asante Kwaku Berko, saying the transactions continued into 2017 and should not be ignored in Ghana’s investigation into the AKSA bribery case.
Amidu cited records from the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, where criminal proceedings were brought against Berko in August 2020 following a civil action filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in April that year.
According to the Grand Jury indictment cited by Amidu, a Turkish holding company transferred $1 million to a Ghanaian consulting company on September 8, 2016.
The records also stated that between September 28 and December 20, 2016, a Turkish energy company transferred another $1.5 million to a Berko Ghana account.
The court records further stated that an additional $500,000 was transferred to the account on February 14, 2017.
Amidu said these details were important because they show that the financial transactions recorded in the US case extended beyond 2015.
He also noted that the US financial institution involved ultimately did not provide financing for the power plant, while Berko gave notice of his intention to leave the institution in December 2016 and his employment ended on March 6, 2017.
“The Power Plant reached operational completion in or about 2017,” the indictment stated, according to Amidu.
He said he was restating the court records to make clear that the facts he was relying on came from proceedings that resulted in Berko’s conviction in the US on August 6, 2026.
“It is important to restate these recorded matters in the trial of Asante Kwaku Berko in the US which led to his conviction on 6 August 2026,” Amidu said in an open letter.
His argument is that the documented transactions and their dates should form part of the assessment of the Ghanaian dimension of the case rather than being reduced to a narrower period.
-mynewsgh
