OSP Cautions Public Against Linking Berko’s US Conviction to Bribery Allegations in Ghana
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has cautioned the public against assuming that the conviction of former Goldman Sachs banker Asante Kwaku Berko in the United States automatically proves bribery allegations against individuals in Ghana.
Director of Strategy, Research and Communications at the OSP, Samuel Appiah Darko, said the US conviction provides important leads for Ghana’s ongoing investigation but does not, on its own, establish that specific individuals in the country received illicit payments.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on Wednesday, August 26, Mr Appiah Darko explained that evidence relied on in the US case must still be subjected to Ghana’s own legal and evidentiary requirements before any conclusions can be reached.
According to him, Berko’s conviction was based largely on evidence including emails, a personal ledger allegedly kept by him, and testimony from a witness obtained with the assistance of the OSP.
He, however, stressed that an allegation contained in Berko’s records does not automatically mean the alleged transaction was independently proven before the US court.
Mr Appiah Darko cited an alleged payment to Evans Mensah of Joy as an example, explaining that a claim recorded by Berko that money had been given to an individual would still have to be independently established under Ghanaian law.
He said the OSP must obtain direct and credible evidence to determine whether such payments were actually made and whether the individuals identified were involved in any wrongdoing.
The OSP official said the distinction was important because the burden of proving specific allegations in Ghana remains separate from the evidence that secured Berko’s conviction in the United States.
Five persons of interest named
His comments follow the naming of five persons of interest in Ghana as part of investigations into the local dimension of the Berko bribery case.
They are former Power Minister Kwabena Donkor; former Technical Adviser to the Minister of Power, Francis Walkson Kwesi Gyata; former Deputy Director at the Ministry of Power, Solomon Adjetey Sowah; former Director at Tricop Group Limited, Lindin George Nii Mettle; and Tricop Group employee Baffour Ankomah Brobbey.
Mr Appiah Darko appealed to the public to allow the OSP sufficient time to complete its investigations, stressing that complex corruption cases require extensive evidence gathering and significant resources.
He noted that the investigation into Berko in the United States reportedly lasted about six years, despite the substantial resources available to US authorities.
He also pointed to the extradition process from the United Kingdom to the United States, which he said took approximately one year.
The OSP maintained that it would carefully examine all available evidence before determining whether any individual in Ghana should face criminal proceedings.
Mr Appiah Darko therefore urged the public to avoid drawing conclusions from the US conviction alone, as the Ghanaian investigation must establish its own evidence and meet the applicable legal standards before any prosecution can be pursued.
