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Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng has identified five persons of interest in the Ghanaian aspect of the bribery case involving former Goldman Sachs banker and former Tema Oil Refinery Managing Director, Asante Kwaku Berko.
The five individuals named by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) are former Power Minister Kwabena Donkor; Francis Walkson Kwasi Dzafa, a former Technical Adviser to the Minister of Power; Solomon Adjetey Sowah, a Deputy Director; Lyndon Nii Mettle, Director of Tricorp Group Limited; and Baffour Ankomah Brobbey, an employee of Tricorp Group Limited.
The Special Prosecutor, however, cautioned that being identified as a person of interest does not mean any of the individuals is a suspect or has been found to have committed an offence.
The development comes after Asante Berko was convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, on August 6, 2026, for his involvement in a bribery scheme involving more than US$1 million in payments to Ghanaian officials.
The payments were allegedly intended to influence officials and secure government approvals for the development and financing of a power plant involving Turkish energy company Aksa Enerji and the Government of Ghana.
US prosecutors established during the trial that Berko and his co-conspirators discussed and facilitated payments to Ghanaian officials in connection with the project. The scheme was said to have taken place between 2014 and 2015, when Ghana was experiencing significant power shortages.
Evidence presented in the US proceedings indicated that Berko and his associates discussed a US$1 million payment to the then Minister of Power, who had responsibility for key approvals needed to move the project forward.
Court documents also referenced payments involving other Ghanaian officials and individuals linked to the Ministry of Power, as well as expenses connected to a trip by Ghanaian officials to Turkey to inspect equipment for the proposed power plant.
However, the identities of some of the officials mentioned in the US case were not publicly revealed. Instead, they were identified in the court proceedings using labels including “Ghana Official 1” and “Ghana Official 2.”
OSP Continues Ghana Investigations
The Office of the Special Prosecutor says its involvement in the matter extends beyond its cooperation with US authorities during the investigation and prosecution of Berko.
Kissi Agyebeng said the OSP has continued to investigate the Ghanaian dimension of the case and will pursue the matter based on evidence gathered through its own investigations.
The identification of the five persons of interest is therefore part of the OSP’s ongoing efforts to establish what occurred in Ghana and determine whether any offences were committed.