Wontumi Pleads Not Guilty To GH¢14.3m EXIM Bank Fraud Charges

The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has pleaded not guilty to four criminal charges over an alleged GH¢14.3 million fraudulent transaction involving the Ghana Export-Import Bank.

Chairman Wontumi appeared before the High Court in Accra together with Wontumi Farms Limited, represented by himself, while the second accused person, Thomas Antwi-Boasiako, is currently at large.

The accused persons denied charges of defrauding by false pretence, authoring a forged document, money laundering, and intentionally causing financial loss to a public institution.

According to the charge sheet filed by the Attorney-General’s Department, the prosecution alleged that Bernard Antwi-Boasiako and Thomas Antwi-Boasiako in 2018 secured GH¢14,302,000 from EXIM Bank under false pretences.

Prosecutors further alleged that Chairman Wontumi used a forged receipt, knowing it was not genuine, to obtain an additional GH¢4 million from the bank.

Court documents indicated that the alleged forged receipt was presented to officials of EXIM Bank as proof of payment to support the transaction.

Under the money laundering charge, the prosecution alleged that between 2018 and 2022, Chairman Wontumi possessed part of the GH¢14.302 million received by Wontumi Farms Limited while allegedly knowing the funds had been obtained through fraudulent means.

The prosecution also accused Chairman Wontumi, Thomas Antwi-Boasiako and Wontumi Farms Limited of causing financial loss exceeding GH¢30 million to EXIM Bank during the business transaction.

During proceedings, counsel for the accused, Andy Appiah-Kubi, prayed the court to maintain the bail conditions earlier granted by the Economic and Organised Crime Office, arguing that the accused persons had consistently cooperated with investigators and honoured all invitations.

He told the court that Chairman Wontumi, being a businessman, politician and public figure with a fixed place of abode, had fully complied with all bail conditions.

The prosecution did not oppose the application and confirmed that the first accused person had honoured all previous bail terms and consistently made himself available to investigators whenever required.

The court subsequently admitted the accused persons to bail on the existing terms and directed the prosecution to file all disclosures ahead of the Case Management Conference (CMC).

The case has been adjourned to June 18, 2026, for CMC.