The beleaguered Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Mr. Asante Berko has resigned as the head of Ghana’s only oil refinery as he faces bribery charges in the United States of America.
He submitted his resignation letter to the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, April 15, 2020.
Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin who announced this in a statement said his resignation was accepted by the president.
Mr. Berko has been cited in a bribery scandal by the United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
As a former employee at a subsidiary of the U.S. lender, Goldman Sachs, Asante Berko is said to have arranged at least $2.5 million in bribes to be paid to Ghana government officials and Parliamentarians to gain approval for a client’s power plant project.
Read: U.S. SEC charges TOR MD for arranging bribes for Ghana officials
“Goldman Sachs fully cooperated with the SEC’s investigation and as stated by the SEC in its press release, the firm’s compliance personnel took appropriate steps to prevent the firm from participating in the transaction,” company spokeswoman Nicole Sharp said.
“Berko helped the Ghana-based intermediary pay more than $200,000 in bribes to various other government officials, and personally paid more than $60,000 to members of the Ghanaian parliament and other government officials, the SEC statement said, adding that Berko took deliberate measures to prevent his employer from detecting the bribery scheme,” a statement by the US authorities noted.
Meanwhile, Mr. Berko has denied bribing any government officials in that deal.
The statement from the presidency said the president received the resignation letter on Wednesday and wished him well.
“President Akufo-Addo has accepted Mr. Asante Berko’s resignation, and duly notified the Board of Directors of TOR of this development. The President wished him well in his future endeavours.”
Source: 3news.com | Ghana