Ex-Goldman Sachs Executive Director Convicted Over Ghana Power Plant Bribery Scheme
The former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive, Berko, was found guilty after a jury deliberated for approximately three hours before returning its verdict on Thursday.
A former executive director at Goldman Sachs, Asante Berko, has been convicted by a federal jury in the United States over his role in a multi-million-dollar bribery scheme involving Ghanaian government officials and a controversial power plant project.
Prosecutors told the court that Berko and his associates, operating outside Goldman Sachs, facilitated the payment of more than $1 million in bribes to high-ranking government officials in Ghana approximately a decade ago.
The payments were allegedly intended to influence official decisions relating to the approval, development and financing of a multimillion-dollar power plant project.
The US government argued that the payments were designed to secure favourable treatment for a Turkish energy company seeking to obtain the lucrative contract during a period when Ghana faced persistent electricity shortages that disrupted businesses and households across the country.
Federal prosecutors described the arrangement as a wide-ranging conspiracy involving efforts to improperly influence key government decision-makers responsible for approving the project.
The conviction represents another significant enforcement action by U.S. authorities targeting international bribery and corruption involving multinational business transactions and foreign public officials.
Berko, who previously served as an executive director at Goldman Sachs, had worked in investment banking before leaving the financial institution.
The case centred on allegations that the defen