A dual United States and Ghana citizen is set to face bribery charges for his involvement in a corporate scheme.
Asante Kwaku Berko was the focus of the extradition request between the United Kingdom and the United States. He will face bribing officials and corporate fraud charges in the Eastern District of New York court.
The charges against Berko relate to his involvement in an elaborate bribery scheme to gain a steady stream of business from the African nation of Ghana.
Berko was arrested as part of a joint effort by the United Kingdom government, the U.K. National Central Bureau of INTERPOL, and the U.S. Marshals Service. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs orchestrated the arrest and the extradition.
Berko to face charges in New York court
Berko will face the courtroom on charges that he abused his position as an executive director at an international banking firm. His place as a critical cog in this U.S. global investment banking, securities, and investment management firm gave him a certain amount of influence and decision-making.
It is alleged, according to court documents, that Berko, from December 2014 and March 2017, was complicit in a multi-year bribery and money laundering scheme.
Berko is presumed to have brokered a multi-million-dollar deal to build a Ghanaian power plant with a Turkish energy giant. He is also alleged to have given more than $70,000 in bribes to Ghanaian officials to ensure the Turkish energy provider won the plant contract.
The FBI’s International Corruption Unit has been investigating the case, and Trial Attorney Elina A. Rubin-Smith of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section will be prosecuting. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alixandra Smith, Tara McGrath, and Jessica Weigel for the Eastern District of New York are assisting with prosecuting the Berko case.
Berko faces a “count of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), one count of violating the FCPA, and one count of conspiring to commit money laundering,” according to the Department of Justice report.
If the dual-national is convicted, he faces a maximum of twenty years for the FCPA violation and a term of five years for each of the other charges.
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