The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has highlighted its role in helping the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) secure the conviction of Ghanaian-American banker and former Managing Director of Tema Oil Refinery, Asante Kwaku Berko.
On 6 August 2026, a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, convicted Berko of conspiring to pay and paying more than $1 million in bribes to multiple Ghanaian officials between 2014 and 2015. The payments were linked to efforts to secure the development and financing of a power plant in Ghana under an agreement between the Republic of Ghana and Turkish energy company Aksa Enerji Uretim A.S.
The OSP provided investigative and evidentiary assistance to the FBI through Ghana’s established mutual legal assistance framework. The U.S. Department of Justice acknowledged the OSP’s contribution, describing it as providing “significant assistance to this prosecution.”
The OSP said the cooperation between the two agencies took place largely behind the scenes, with the successful conviction demonstrating the effectiveness of international cooperation in tackling cross-border corruption.
Berko faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on 10 November 2026.
Read the statement below:
