Chairman Wontumi of New Patriotic Party (NPP), also known as Bernard Antwi Boasiako and also the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, has been officially charged over an alleged multi-million cedi fraud and money laundering scheme related to a loan facility obtained from the Ghana Export-Import Bank (Exim Bank).
Thomas Antwi Boasiako, Chairman Wontumi, together with Wontumi Farms Limited, have been charged with four offenses including money laundering, defrauding by false pretenses, uttering of forged document and causing financial loss to a public institution. This is evident from court papers filed at the High Court in Accra.
The charge sheet dated 15 May 2026 claims the defendants, between August 2018 and May 2026 fraudulently induced the Ghana Export-Import Bank to release to them some GH14.3 million, purporting to be establishing a large-scale agricultural business in the country.
According to prosecution, Wontumi Farms Limited applied to the bank for GH19 million loan facility and attached to the application documents purporting that the company had secured a plot of land measuring 100,000 acres.
Prosecution also claims the company attached to the loan application, supporting documents which included an agreement plan and a board resolution, some of which investigation authorities found to have been dated prior to the incorporation of the company.
The authorities say although Exim Bank approved the facility amount as GH18.7 million, only an amount of GH14.3 million was disbursed.
The prosecution, nevertheless, says money disbursed was never used for the agricultural purpose that it was described to the bank for. “The defendants never purchased any land, engaged in any agricultural activity, nor purchased any farming equipment, For the purpose that it was represented to Exim Bank,” the charge sheet says.
According to the charge sheet, Chairman Wontumi later forged a receipt of GH4 million in respect of agricultural equipment to support some of the claims, a document that the investigation team revealed to have originally been a pro-forma invoice made to appear as if it represented payment for purchase. This fraudulent document was, according to the prosecution, later made to induce the release of funds from the bank.
In its Count Three, the charge sheet states Chairman Wontumi obtained part of the GH14.302 million disbursed by the Exim Bank through Wontumi Farms Limited, and had full knowledge that the amount was obtained fraudulently. In its Count Four, it stated that he, together with Thomas Antwi Boasiako and Wontumi Farms Limited fraudulently induced the bank to suffer a financial loss to the tune of GH30.97 million.
Prosecution claims that while most of the money obtained through this fraud was utilized for personal expenses and other non-agricultural investments, all attempts made by the Exim Bank to retrieve the amount were unsuccessful. The investigation team, According to Attorney-General’s Department, initiated the case in March 2025, leading to the arrest of Chairman Wontumi on 14 May 2026. He will reappear in court in Accra when the case goes to trial.
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