Chairman Wontumi pleads not guilty to GH¢30m Exim Bank fraud charges

Bernard Antwi Boasiako, widely known as Chairman Wontumi, has pleaded not guilty to five criminal charges involving an alleged GH¢30 million financial loss to the Ghana Export-Import (Exim) Bank. The charges, which include defrauding by false pretences, money laundering, uttering forged documents, and intentionally causing financial loss to a public body, stem from a 2018 loan application for a proposed agricultural project.

Prosecutors allege that Wontumi and Wontumi Farms Limited submitted forged documents and misrepresented land ownership to secure funding. They further claim that the funds were diverted for personal use rather than the intended farming activities. In response, the defense maintains that the dispute is civil in nature, centered on loan repayment rather than criminal fraud, and has filed a separate suit to that effect.

Separately, Wontumi is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for illegal mining-related offenses. His legal team is seeking bail pending the outcome of an appeal against that conviction. His lawyer, Samuel Atta Akyea, has denied reports that the defense sought a presidential pardon for his client, stating that the legal strategy focuses on the civil nature of the Exim Bank dispute.