Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has announced that the government will prosecute Wontumi Farms and its directors on charges of forgery related to a loan acquisition from Ghana Exim Bank.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, December 22, Dr. Ayine revealed that an investigation by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) found that the company, owned by NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, fraudulently obtained a loan facility from Ghana Exim Bank, causing a financial loss to the state exceeding GH₵24 million.
Dr. Ayine explained that the loan, approved in December 2017, was intended to support a large-scale farming project on 100,000 acres at Asare Nkwanta in the Ashanti Region. However, EOCO’s investigations revealed that the equipment listed for purchase was never procured, and the project never commenced.
“It is clear from our investigation that Chairman Wuntumi and his company, Wuntumi Farms Limited, made fraudulent misrepresentations to Ex-Im Bank with a view to obtaining the loan facility, and in fact did obtain the loan facility. The equipment they represented were to be purchased were never procured. The farming enterprise never materialized, and so no young persons were employed.”
It was uncovered that Wontumi Farms and its CEO secured a GH₵4 million loan using forged documents. Chairman Wontumi allegedly submitted a falsified receipt, purportedly from Casama Enterprise, to support the loan application. The receipt claimed payment for heavy-duty farming equipment such as bulldozers and excavators.
“The company and its director and CEO forged a receipt in order to deceive Ex-Im Bank that they were in compliance with the loan conditions. These are not mere breaches of a contract, but constitute acts of criminality by no means a person than the original chairman of the then ruling party.”
EOCO’s probe confirmed the document was a proforma invoice with the word “invoice” altered to read “receipt,” submitted as proof of payment.
The total financial loss, including the principal loan and accrued interest, stands at GH₵24,225,735. Dr. Ayine stated
“In the circumstances, in the face of the evidence we have gathered in this investigation, thoroughly conducted by the Economic and Organized Crime Office, we have made the decision to prosecute Wuntumi Farms and its directors with defrauding by false pretenses, forgery, and causing financial loss to the state in the sum of 24,255,735 Ghana cedis.”
Dr Ayine concluded -“by the time we file charges, which will be definitely after the Christmas break when we resume work, it might be that this figure would have increased because the interest on the principal keeps compounding. And so we’ll get the exact figure of the amount that is involved in this, criminal enterprise from the Ex-Im Bank before we file charges in court.”
