The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has pleaded not guilty to fresh charges of fraud, forgery, money laundering and causing financial loss to the state involving more than GH¢30 million allegedly belonging to the Ghana Export-Import Bank.
Chairman Wontumi appeared before the High Court in Accra on Monday, May 18, where he was arraigned alongside one Thomas Antwi-Boasiako, a Director of Wontumi Farms Limited, who is currently said to be on the run.
According to court documents filed by Deputy Attorney-General, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, the accused persons allegedly used false pretences to obtain GH¢14,302,000 from the Ghana Exim Bank for a farming project that prosecutors say never materialised.
The prosecution further accused Chairman Wontumi of presenting a forged document to secure an additional GH¢4 million from the bank.
“He has also been accused of uttering a forged document with the intent to defraud Exim Bank officials by allegedly using a forged receipt to obtain GH¢4,000,000.00 from the Bank,” portions of the charge sheet stated.
Presiding judge Justice Halimah El-Alawa Abdul-Baasit admitted Chairman Wontumi to bail after his lawyer, Andy Appiah-Kubi, prayed the court to grant him bail.
The prosecution did not oppose the request.
According to the prosecution’s facts, Chairman Wontumi, acting as Managing Director of Wontumi Farms Limited, applied for a GH¢19 million facility from the Ghana Exim Bank in January 2018 to finance a large-scale farming venture.
The application, prosecutors said, was accompanied by a board resolution purportedly signed by Thomas Antwi-Boasiako as Board Chairman.
However, investigators alleged inconsistencies with the company’s incorporation timeline.
“The prosecution contends that the Board Resolution Letter was dated January 23, 2018, yet bore a resolution passed, on its face, on December 9, 2017—four clear days before Wontumi Farms Limited was incorporated and authorised to commence business on December 14, 2017,” the prosecution stated.
Court documents further indicated that the application claimed the company had secured 100,000 acres of land for the farming project and projected employment opportunities for about 38,000 people.
The bank subsequently approved a mixed loan and grant facility amounting to GH¢18.7 million, out of which GH¢14.3 million was disbursed by March 2018.
The prosecution also alleged that Chairman Wontumi later presented what he described as proof of purchase for agricultural machinery valued at GH¢4 million.
But investigators claim the document was falsified.
“Investigations have since established that the document was not a genuine purchase receipt. It was originally a pro-forma invoice issued by KAS-SAMA Enterprise,” prosecutors stated.
“The inscription ‘Pro-forma Invoice’ on the document had been altered and replaced with the word ‘Receipt’,” the prosecution added.
According to the state, investigations established that none of the proposed farming activities were carried out.
“No agricultural plant or machinery was bought. No person was employed to work on any farm,” the prosecution alleged.
The prosecution further claimed that the accused persons did not secure the land they claimed to own for the project and that large sums withdrawn from the company’s accounts were allegedly used for personal business interests rather than the intended farming activities.
