NDC Member of Parliament who doubles as the Minority Chief Whip has defended the former Tema Oil Refinery MD, Asante Berko saying he never paid bribes to Members of Parliament in 2015.
The NDC MP has vehemently denied the statement from the US Security and Exchange Commission that Asante Berko paid bribes to Members of Parliament and other government officials to help a Turkish energy company win a contract to build a power plant.
Asante Berko has since denied the allegations and vowed to file a lawsuit against the US SEC but on April 15, 2020, he resigned from his position as MD of Tema Oil Refinery.
The NDC MP was a member of the Energy Committee in parliament in 2015 that first approved the deal but says no such act of bribery happened.
According to the Security and Exchange Commission in the United Stated, Asante Berko, a former executive at Goldman’s London subsidiary, facilitated as much as $4.5 million in bribes to help a Turkish energy company win a contract to build a power plant. The SEC says the energy company, which wasn’t named, funneled money to an intermediary, which then paid bribes to Ghanaian government officials.
Mr. Berko also personally paid bribes totaling $66,000 to members of the Ghanaian parliament and other government officials, the SEC alleges. The said bribery transaction occurred within a period from 2015 to sometime in 2016.
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An attorney for Mr. Asante Berko declined to comment on the lawsuit, which accuses Mr. Berko of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. That law bars individuals and companies from giving anything of value to overseas officials to win business.
However, speaking in an Interview, NDC MP, Muntaka Mubarak said: “To be frank with you, I am seeing his face for the first time since the news broke out, as a member I can tell you not a dime was paid to anybody, the gentleman has come out to say he has not paid anything, I think the investigations will make everything clear, I can tell you I have never seen him not to talk of exchange money, you can ask the chairman of the committee then, I for once can tell you I never saw the gentleman exchange money with anyone”.
