Dr. Dominic Ayine, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, has revealed that Bernard Antwi Boasiako, CEO of Wontumi Farms Limited, forged documents to obtain a loan from Ghana Exim Bank under the Mining Alternative Livelihoods Initiative.
Speaking at Government Accountability Series on Monday, December 22, Dr. Ayine explained that Wontumi submitted a falsified receipt to the bank as proof of purchase of farm machinery.
“Our investigations established that Chairman Wontumi had approached Kas-Sama Enterprise, an industrial equipment dealer and obtained an invoice with a promise to return to purchase the said equipment. He never went back to purchase the equipment.
Instead, he forged the invoice he obtained from Kas-Sama Enterprise by removing the word ‘invoice’ and replacing it with ‘receipt.’ This forged receipt was then submitted to Exim Bank as proof that he had purchased the said equipment after the disbursement,” Dr. Ayine said.
The Attorney General added that none of the farm machinery was actually bought, meaning Wontumi Farms failed to meet the loan conditions requiring registration of equipment in the joint names of Exim Bank and Wontumi Farms.
“These are not mere breaches of a loan contract but constitute acts of criminality by no mean a person than the regional chairman of the then ruling Party,” he stressed.
Dr. Ayine confirmed that the company and its directors will face prosecution for fraud by false pretences, forgery, and causing financial loss to the state totaling GH₵24,255,735.
