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🇬🇭 Ghana /Crime & Justice

Ghana Rejects GH¢30 Million Plea Bargain in EXIM Bank Case

From Ghanaian Times · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • Ghana's Attorney-General's Office rejected a GH¢30 million plea bargain offer from NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi-Boasiako.
  • The office deemed the amount inadequate, demanding the full GH¢30 million plus accrued interest in the EXIM Bank fraud case.
  • Antwi-Boasiako, also known as Chairman Wontumi, was recently sentenced to 20 years for illegal mining, and is accused of defrauding EXIM Bank through a fraudulent farming project.

Ghana's Attorney-General's Office has rejected a GH¢30 million settlement offer from Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, proposed the amount as part of a plea bargain in a case involving fraud at the Ghana Export-Import (EXIM) Bank.

Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, stated that the offered sum was insufficient. The state is seeking the full GH¢30 million along with accrued interest. The Attorney-General's Office has not yet formally communicated this rejection to Antwi-Boasiako's legal team.

This development follows a recent High Court sentence of 20 years imprisonment for Antwi-Boasiako, handed down for facilitating illegal mining activities. The court had previously given parties 30 days to conclude plea bargain negotiations in the EXIM Bank case, which was initiated after Antwi-Boasiako was charged with allegedly obtaining a facility through fraudulent means for a purported large-scale farming project.

Prosecutors allege that Antwi-Boasiako applied for and received GH¢18.73 million from EXIM Bank for a farming project that was never undertaken. They further claim he submitted an altered document to facilitate the release of additional funds and that a significant portion of the disbursed money was diverted for personal and business ventures.

the amount offered by Mr Antwi-Boasiako was inadequate.

— Dr Justice Srem-SaiDeputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice explaining the rejection of the settlement offer.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Ghanaian Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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