The Economic and Organised Crime Office has placed asset tracing and recovery at the centre of its investigation into the Ghanaian side of the Asante Kwaku Berko bribery scheme, signalling that it intends to pursue money and property as hard as it pursues criminal liability.
The Office set out that position in a news release issued in Accra on 10 August 2026, four days after a federal jury in Brooklyn convicted the former Goldman Sachs investment banker and former Managing Director of Tema Oil Refinery.
EOCO said the Attorney-General has directed it to escalate an investigation that began last year, and that it will follow the financial trail wherever it leads within its jurisdiction. Where evidence supports it, the Office intends to preserve, recover and restore to the State any proceeds, benefits, assets or property connected to suspected criminal conduct in the case.
Asset recovery moves to the front of the investigation
The paragraph that carries the most weight in the release concerns money rather than prosecution. EOCO said asset tracing and recovery form an integral part of its investigative plan in this matter, consistent with its statutory mandate.
The Office will examine, where supported by evidence, whether any proceeds, benefits, assets or property may have been derived from or connected to suspected criminal conduct, and where the law permits, pursue the appropriate measures for their preservation, recovery and restitution to the State.
EOCO framed that ambition as central to what it exists to do rather than an addition to the case. Its mandate, the release said, extends beyond establishing whether an offence has been committed.
Where economic or organised crime results in the unlawful acquisition or dissipation of public resources, recovering those resources becomes an essential component of the investigative and enforcement process.
Following the financial trail
The Office described the reach of that exercise in broad terms. It intends to follow the evidence and financial trail, including any relevant transactions, beneficiaries, assets and proceeds that may fall within its jurisdiction.
The wording matters because of what American prosecutors told the Brooklyn court. They alleged that payments moved through shell companies, sham invoices, nominee account holders and cash withdrawals, and that funds were laundered through United States and foreign bank accounts.
A domestic recovery effort would have to unpick that structure at the Ghanaian end, identifying who ultimately received value and what it was converted into over a decade.
An investigation that predates the verdict
EOCO used the release to establish that its interest in the matter did not begin with the conviction. The Office said it has been attentive to developments and has, within its statutory mandate, engaged with the relevant authorities regarding the Ghanaian dimension of the case.
The trigger came from abroad. “Last year, EOCO received a request from its counterparts in the United States in connection with investigations into the alleged bribery scheme,” the Office said.
That request sought information relating to specific individuals in Ghana considered relevant to the investigations, including a former Minister of State and public servants.
EOCO said it then commenced preliminary work in collaboration with the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice, and monitored the American proceedings closely, treating the evidence emerging in court as potentially material to the scope and direction of any comprehensive investigation in Ghana.
Why the Office says it moved carefully
The release defends that pace in terms that read as a direct answer to public criticism of Ghana’s anti-corruption agencies.
“This approach was deliberate. EOCO’s responsibility is not merely to commence investigations for the sake of public perception, but to ensure that investigations are properly grounded in evidence, conducted lawfully and capable where appropriate of supporting subsequent criminal proceedings and asset-recovery action.”
Economic and Organised Crime Office
The reasoning places evidentiary strength above visible activity. A case announced early and built on thin material fails in court and forfeits any prospect of recovering assets, which is the outcome EOCO appears most concerned to avoid.
The Attorney-General’s directive
The end of the American trial changed the tempo. The release states that following Berko’s conviction, the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice immediately engaged the appropriate United States authorities and will, through lawful channels, obtain the evidence, records and information necessary to advance the Ghanaian investigation that began last year.
The Attorney-General has since directed EOCO to escalate its investigations as relevant information and official records are obtained from competent authorities in the United States.
EOCO said it has accordingly commenced the process of intensifying its investigation into the Ghanaian dimension of the matter, and that its collaboration with American law enforcement and the Attorney-General’s Office remains active.
No automatic guilt for anyone in Ghana
EOCO drew a firm line between the Brooklyn verdict and the position of anyone named in Ghana. “EOCO wishes to emphasize, however, that the conclusion of proceedings against Mr. Berko in the United States does not, by itself, establish criminal liability on the part of any person in Ghana,” the release said.
Any individual whose name appears in evidence obtained through the international cooperation process will be assessed independently, on the basis of the evidence relevant to that person and in accordance with Ghanaian law.
The caution arrives at a moment when names have circulated widely on social media and at least one former minister has issued a denial through his lawyers.
The Office acknowledged the legitimate public interest in the case while ruling out running commentary, saying it will not disclose sensitive operational information that could compromise ongoing investigations, the integrity of evidence or any future prosecution.
EOCO closed by committing to follow the evidence without fear or favour and to pursue the recovery of assets and public resources where the evidence and the law so require. Berko will be sentenced on 10 November 2026 and faces a maximum of thirty years in prison.
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