The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has been hit with fresh criminal charges at the High Court in Accra over an alleged multi-million cedi fraud and money laundering scheme linked to the Ghana Export-Import Bank.
According to court documents filed by Deputy Attorney-General Justice Srem-Sai, Chairman Wontumi and one Thomas Antwi-Boasiako, a Director of Wontumi Farms Limited, allegedly used false pretences to obtain GH¢14,302,000 from Exim Bank.
The prosecution further alleges that Chairman Wontumi used a forged receipt with intent to defraud officials of the bank in order to secure an additional GH¢4 million disbursement from the facility.
He has also been accused of receiving part of the GH¢14.3 million, which prosecutors claim was fraudulently obtained through the transaction involving Wontumi Farms Limited.
The charge sheet additionally alleges that all three accused persons intentionally caused financial loss exceeding GH¢30 million to Exim Bank during the course of the transaction.
Thomas Antwi-Boasiako is currently said to be on the run.
Chairman Wontumi appeared before the court presided over by Justice Halimah El-Alawa Abdul-Baasit and pleaded not guilty to four charges — defrauding by false pretence, forgery, money laundering, and intentionally causing financial loss to a public institution.
He was subsequently granted bail after an application by his lawyer, Andy Appiah-Kubi. The prosecution, led by Dr Srem-Sai, did not oppose the bail request.
According to the facts presented before the court, Chairman Wontumi allegedly approached Exim Bank in January 2018, acting as Managing Director of Wontumi Farms Limited, and applied for a GH¢19 million grant facility to finance a large-scale farming project.
Prosecutors said the application was accompanied by a purported board resolution letter signed by Thomas Antwi-Boasiako in his claimed capacity as Board Chairman.
However, investigators contend that the document contained suspicious inconsistencies. The prosecution argues that although the letter was dated January 23, 2018, it referenced a board resolution allegedly passed on December 9, 2017 — four days before Wontumi Farms Limited was officially incorporated on December 14, 2017.
The application also reportedly claimed that the company had secured 100,000 acres of land for the farming project and projected that the first phase alone would create employment for about 6,000 families, estimated at nearly 38,000 people.
The case is expected to continue at the High Court in Accra in the coming weeks.
Source: Wesleyannews.com
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