Ex-goldman banker arrested at Heathrow

A FORMER Goldman Sachs banker has been arrested in Heathrow on charges that he orchestrated bribes to Ghanaian officials while working at the Wall Street giant.

Asante Berko, who worked as an executive at Goldman’s London office, has been indicted in a New York court, accused of conspiring with at least two Ghanaian officials in a bribery scheme that benefited Goldman, himself and a Turkish energy company that sought to build a power plant in the African state.

He was arrested at Heathrow airport last week and remains in custody in Britain.

Mr Berko was at the time of the scheme a member of the team at Goldman responsible for securing and managing financing for a Ghanaian power plant project, according to the indictment, which was first reported by Bloomberg. He allegedly paid bribes to obtain the necessary approvals for the Turkish company, in which Goldman held a 16pc stake, to go ahead with the plan. Prosecutors also claim Mr Berko laundered the bribe money through US financial institutions.

Mr Berko served as a vice-president at Goldman Sachs in its naturalresources group before he resigned in December 2016. He went on to work as managing director of Ghana’s stateowned Tema Oil Refinery, but stepped down after a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suit was filed.

Mr Berko was sued by the SEC in 2020 over the same scheme. Last year, he agreed to pay more than $329,000 (£282,000) to regulators to resolve the case, without admitting or denying the allegations.

Goldman Sachs declined to comment. Carl Loewenson, a lawyer representing Mr Berko, was contacted for comment.

The case is an unwelcome development for Goldman Sachs, which has been seeking to improve its image after a high-profile bribery scandal in Malaysia.