Wontumi denies GH¢30m EXIM Bank financial loss charge

Former Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, alias Chairman Wontumi, has pleaded not guilty to fresh charges of allegedly causing financial loss of GH¢30 million to the Ghana Export-Import Bank (EXIM Bank).

The charges relate to a farming facility obtained by Wontumi Farms Limited from the bank in 2018.

The prosecution, led by the Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, withdrew the initial charges and filed fresh ones against the accused, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence at the Nsawam Prison in a separate illegal mining case.

Dr Srem-Sai told the court that Antwi-Boasiako obtained the facility after presenting documents which investigations later established were forged or altered.

He said although the facility was intended to finance a farming project, investigations established that the proposed farming activities were not undertaken.

According to the prosecution, Antwi-Boasiako neither procured the agricultural machinery outlined in the project proposal nor employed workers for the farm.

The prosecution further alleged that he did not own or secure the land he represented to the bank as having been acquired for the project.

It also alleged that substantial portions of the funds disbursed to Wontumi Farms were withdrawn by Antwi-Boasiako and used for personal purposes, including investments in other businesses.

The court heard that in January 2018, Antwi-Boasiako applied for a GH¢19 million facility to establish the farming project and represented that 100,000 acres of land had been secured.

The application included a purported board resolution dated January 23, 2018, which stated that the company’s board had authorised the application through a resolution passed on December 9, 2017.

The prosecution noted that Wontumi Farms was incorporated four days after the purported resolution.

Antwi-Boasiako also submitted a pro-forma invoice purportedly issued by Epson Ghana Limited for agricultural machinery valued at GH¢4.26 million.

Investigations allegedly established that the company did not exist and that the invoice was forged.

EXIM Bank subsequently offered Wontumi Farms a combined loan and grant facility of GH¢18.73 million, of which GH¢14.30 million was disbursed.

The prosecution said a purported GH¢4 million machinery receipt later presented to the bank was originally a pro-forma invoice from KAS-SAMA Enterprise, which had been altered.

The case has been adjourned to October 27, 2026, for Case Management Conference. The court directed the prosecution to file disclosures within 14 days.

BY MALIK SULLEMANA

SKIP THE QUEUE, TAP THE NEWS

Read the Ghanaian Times and The Spectator newspapers from the comfort of your device via TimesNewsPlus.

#GhanaianTimes #TimesNewsPlus

Follow our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q

The post Wontumi denies GH¢30m EXIM Bank financial loss charge appeared first on Ghanaian Times.