Bernard Antwi Boasiako aka Wontumi
Embattled businessman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, yesterday pleaded not guilty to amended charges filed by the Office of the Attorney General, accusing him of causing financial loss of GH¢30 million to a public entity through a loan he obtained from the Ghana Export-Import Bank (Ghana EXIM Bank) in 2018.
Joshua Sackey, a Principal State Attorney, withdrew the initial charge sheet filed on May 15, 2026, replacing it with a new one which jumped the charges from four to five.
Chairman Wontumi, who is already serving twenty years for mining related offences, has been accused of obtaining GH¢14,302,000 from the Ghana Export-Import Bank in 2018 under false pretences.
His lawyer, Samuel Atta Akyea, told the court that by all indications, the prosecution’s own documents point to the fact that the matter is a civil one.
The former Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is further accused of using a forged receipt, knowing that the same is not genuine, to obtain about GH¢4,000,000 from the bank in 2017 and 2018.
Chairman Wontumi pleaded not guilty to all the charges levelled against him, and the court, presided over by Justice Halima El-Alawa Abdul-Baasit, ordered that he remained on his previous bail condition.
The prosecution was directed to file disclosures and serve same on the defence. The case was adjourned to October 27, 2026.
Charged alongside him are Thomas Antwi-Boasiako, who is on the run, and his company, Wontumi Farms Limited.
They are facing one count of defrauding by false pretences, two counts of uttering of a forged document, one count of intentionally causing financial loss to a public body and another count of money laundering.
Failed Plea Bargain
Chairman Wontumi and his legal team had attempted but failed to strike a plea bargain with the Office of the Attorney General in order to avoid going through a full trial.
The court, as a result, directed the Attorney General to file all disclosures and witness statements for case management, after which the trial will commence.
Chairman Wontumi’s legal team was given three opportunities and two adjournments to conclude negotiations of a plea bargain with the Attorney General.
But the negotiations came to a standstill after both sides could not agree on an acceptable figure as the money lost and restitution to the state.
Accusations
Court documents indicate that sometime in January 2018, Wontumi approached the Ghana EXIM Bank for a grant of GH¢19 million facility to embark on a farming venture.
Wontumi is said to have declared in the grant application that a parcel of land – 100,000 acres in size – has been secured for the project.
The Attorney General alleges that the bank had disbursed a total of GH¢14,302,000 to Wontumi Farms Limited, but the accused persons did not undertake the proposed farming activity.
“They bought no agricultural plant and machinery. They employed no one to work on the farm. They did not own or secure the parcel of land which they represented to the Bank as a parcel of land secured for the proposed farm,” court documents allege.
It added that Wontumi withdrew huge sums of the funds from his company’s bank accounts and spent the same for his personal use, including investing such sums in other business enterprises.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak
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