As highlighted in this prior post, in 2020, the SEC announced the filing of a civil complaint charging Asante Berko (pictured – a former Executive Director of Goldman Sachs International) with Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations and other charges for “orchestrating a bribery scheme to help a client [a Turkish energy company] win a government contract to build and operate an electrical power plant” in Ghana.
Berko publicly denied the SEC’s allegations and the SEC sought court approval to serve the summons and complaint via e-mail and through his U.S. counsel. Ultimately settlement negotiations commenced and in mid-2021 Berko agreed to resolve the matter. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations, Berko agreed to pay $329,163.92 (disgorgement of $275,000 along with prejudgment interest of $54,163.92). The final judgment also permanently restrained and enjoined Berko from violating, directly or indirectly, the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions.
As highlighted in this prior post, in late 2022 Berko was arrested in London in connection with a six count August 2020 indictment alleging that he conspired “with at least two Ghanaian officials and four others in a bribery scheme that benefited Goldman, himself and a Turkish energy company that sought to build a power plant in the African nation.”
In other words, the same core conduct alleged in the prior SEC enforcement action which Berko resolved in 2021.
Yesterday, the DOJ announced that Berko was recently extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States. As stated in the DOJ release: “Berko is charged with one count of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), one count of violating the FCPA, and one count of conspiring to commit money laundering.”
