The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, has provided details surrounding the arrest of Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, over an alleged fraudulent loan transaction involving the Ghana Export-Import Bank (Exim Bank).
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, December 22, Dr Ayine said Chairman Wontumi was arrested in March this year by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) on reasonable suspicion of involvement in a crime linked to a loan facility under Exim Bank’s Mining Alternative Livelihood Programme.
According to the Attorney-General, Chairman Wontumi is the sole shareholder, director and chief executive officer of Wontumi Farms Limited, the company at the centre of the investigations.
Dr Ayine explained that the Mining Alternative Livelihood Programme was designed by Exim Bank to provide alternative sources of income for young people in communities affected by illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.
The initiative, he said, was intended to support companies committed to job creation in mining areas.
He disclosed that in December 2017, Wontumi Farms Limited submitted an application for a loan facility of about GH¢18 million, claiming it would be used to cultivate maize on 100,000 acres of land and employ youth from mining communities.
However, investigations revealed that at the time the loan application and an accompanying board resolution were submitted, the company had not yet been registered and therefore did not legally exist.
“In short, the company did not exist at the time of the loan application by its sole shareholder and director,” Dr Ayine stated.
He said records show that Wontumi Farms Limited was incorporated on December 14, 2017, and issued with a certificate to commence business on the same day.
The company’s stated principal activities included general farming, agribusiness and agro-processing.
Dr Ayine further disclosed that Chairman Wontumi had written to Exim Bank indicating that the board of the company had met on December 9, 2017, five days before the company was incorporated to approve the decision to seek a loan facility of about GH¢19 million to support a farming project at Asarenkwanta in the Ashanti Region.
Based on the application, Exim Bank approved a medium-term loan facility of GH¢18,734,260, which included a grant component, the Attorney-General said.
The loan offer was accepted in January 2018, with Chairman Wontumi signing as Chief Executive Officer of the company.
Dr Ayine said investigations into the transaction are ongoing, stressing government’s commitment to accountability and the protection of public funds.
