The state has initiated major criminal proceedings against the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, over an alleged multi-million-cedi agricultural loan fraud.

A formal charge sheet filed by the Prosecution Division of the Office of the Attorney-General on 15 May 2026 at the High Court in Accra alleges a web of deception involving altered financial receipts, non-existent farming operations, and a massive financial hit to Ghana EXIM Bank.

Chairman Wontumi, 50, alongside Thomas Antwi-Boasiako, who is currently at large, and their corporate entity, Wontumi Farms Limited, are facing four criminal counts.

These are defrauding by false pretence, uttering a forged document, money laundering, and intentionally causing financial loss to a public body.

According to the state’s brief facts signed by the Deputy Attorney-General, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, the allegations trace back to January 2018.

Chairman Wontumi, acting as the Managing Director of Wontumi Farms Limited, allegedly approached the Ghana Export-Import (EXIM) Bank to request a ₵19 million credit and grant facility. The stated purpose of the funds was to establish an ambitious commercial cultivation venture.

To win over bank executives, the high-profile businessman allegedly made several grand representations.

He declared in his application letter that Wontumi Farms had successfully acquired a massive 100,000-acre parcel of land for the project. Furthermore, accompanying project proposals claimed that developing just 2,500 hectares (roughly 6,000 acres) of the site would create employment for 6,000 families, directly supporting an estimated 38,000 individuals.

However, state investigators allegedly uncovered significant irregularities dating back to the inception of the loan process.

The bank application was supported by a ‘Board Resolution Letter’ signed by Thomas Antwi-Boasiako, the Board Chairman.

The document stated that the application had been authorised during a board meeting on 9th December 2017, four clear days before Wontumi Farms Limited was legally incorporated and authorised to commence business on 14 December 2017.

Unaware of the chronological inconsistencies, the Ghana EXIM Bank allegedly extended a credit facility offer of GH₵18,734,260.00 to the company on 16 January 2018 to cover agricultural machinery, working capital, and staff consultancy fees.

Chairman Wontumi signed the acceptance agreement in Kumasi on 23rd January, 2018, and disbursements commenced shortly after, totalling GH₵14,302,000.00 by March 2018.

The second count on the charge sheet- uttering a forged document- centres around how the accused persons justified the spending of these state funds.

In March 2018,  Chairman Wontumi allegedly presented a document bearing the title ‘Receipt’ to the EXIM Bank to prove he had purchased GH₵4 million worth of specialised agricultural machinery. Relying entirely on this proof of purchase, the bank allegedly released subsequent tranches of funding.

State intelligence claims that the document was a fabrication. Investigations allegedly revealed the paper was originally a simple pro-forma price invoice issued by an enterprise known as KAS-SAMA Enterprise when Chairman Wontumi made casual pricing inquiries.

The business owner is said to have told detectives that the politician promised to return later to make the actual purchase, but was never seen or heard from again. Instead, the inscription ‘Pro-forma Invoice’ on the document was deliberately erased, altered, and replaced with ‘Receipt’ before being submitted to the bank.

The state further alleges that the grand agricultural vision was entirely a front. Intelligence operations conducted by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) established that the accused persons did not clear a single acre of land, bought no machinery, and employed no farm labourers.

Instead, the prosecution alleges that Chairman Wontumi systematically withdrew the state funds from the corporate accounts of Wontumi Farms Limited, moving them into personal accounts to fund other luxury business enterprises. This forms the basis of Count Three, which charges him with laundering the proceeds of fraud between 2018 and 2022.

The state’s final charge relates to the overall financial devastation brought upon the public institution.

Count Four highlights that because of the total failure to execute the business transaction or service the debt, the Ghana EXIM Bank has been left with an institutional loss exceeding GH₵30,000,000.00 in principal and accumulated liabilities.

When extensive efforts allegedly by EXIM Bank officials to recover the outstanding funds were completely stonewalled by the accused, EOCO formally stepped in during March 2025.

Chairman Wontumi was subsequently arrested, cautioned, and officially hit with the charges on 14th May, 2026, leading to his arraignment.  

According to prosecutors, the second accused director, Thomas Antwi-Boasiako, is still at large.

Chairman Wontumi is presently lacing his boots to contest for the National Chairman position of the opposition NPP.

myjoyonline.com

Fresh court documents filed at the High Court in Accra have alleged a list of criminal charges against former National Food and Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) Chief Executive Officer, Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba and his wife, Faiza Seidu Wuni, over alleged financial improprieties involving millions of Ghana cedis.

The new charge sheet, filed by the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice on May 15, 2026, levels 20 counts against the couple, including stealing, defrauding by pretenses, willfully causing financial loss to the State, abuse of public office for profit, dishonestly receiving, and money laundering.

The latest development follows the re-arrest of Mr Aludiba and his wife by operatives of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) shortly after the High Court discharged them in an earlier case.

According to the court filing, prosecutors accuse the former NAFCO boss of fraudulently obtaining GH¢734,400, the cedi equivalent of US$127,500, from NAFCO in 2017 under the pretext of rent payments purportedly covering the period between May 2017 and May 2019.

The state alleges that the representation was false and constituted defrauding by false pretence contrary to Section 131 of the Criminal Offences Act.

A second charge accuses Mr Abdul-Wahab of wilfully causing financial loss to the state through the same alleged rent claim.

Further allegations relate to payments allegedly made through a private entity known as Sawtina Enterprise.

The prosecution claims that between February 2017 and February 2025, Mr Aludiba, while serving as CEO of NAFCO, allegedly diverted approximately GH¢50.8 million from the state agency under the guise of making payments to one James Tieku-Apawu, trading as Sawtina Enterprise, for foodstuff purchases.

Court documents allege that the transactions amounted to stealing and constituted abuse of public office for personal gain.

The state further alleges that the payments caused substantial financial loss to NAFCO.

In another set of allegations, prosecutors accuse the former CEO of channelling payments from NAFCO to a business allegedly owned by his wife, identified in the charge sheet as Alqarni Enterprise.

The documents allege that between September 2018 and August 2019, payments amounting to more than GH¢3.34 million were made to the enterprise for purported food supply transactions.

Prosecutors claim the transactions were fraudulent and constituted theft and abuse of office.

Faiza Seidu Wuni, named as the second accused person, is facing separate charges of defrauding by false pretence, dishonestly receiving and money laundering.

According to the charge sheet, the state alleges she falsely represented that her business had supplied food items to NAFCO, causing the company to part with more than GH¢3.34 million.

The prosecution also alleges that she knowingly received and possessed funds believed to have been obtained through unlawful means.

The money laundering charge filed under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044), accuses her of allegedly taking possession of the funds while allegedly aware that the money had been acquired through stealing.

The case has already generated significant public and political attention following complaints by defence lawyers over the handling of the accused persons after their re-arrest.

Counsel for the former NAFCO CEO, former Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame, had earlier criticised EOCO’s actions, accusing investigators of denying the accused access to lawyers and refusing bail despite existing court processes and earlier bail conditions.

Mr Dame also described the prosecution’s conduct as an abuse of prosecutorial discretion and alleged that his clients had endured what he termed “pre-trial torture and harassment”.

NAFCO, a state-owned institution established to support food security and stabilise agricultural commodity prices, has in recent years faced scrutiny over procurement practices, storage systems and financial management.

The case is expected to return to court in the coming days as prosecutors seek to formally move the new charges against the accused persons.

myjoyonline.com

The Swedru Circuit Court in the Eastern Region has sentenced two persons involved in a violent machete fight at Akyem Oda to 12 months imprisonment each with hard labour, while a third accused person was fined GH¢6,000.

The convicts, identified as Evans Adayele and Joseph Nyabaah, were arrested following a disturbing street clash that gained widespread attention on social media after videos of the incident surfaced online on May 6, 2026. The footage showed a group of men brandishing machetes and engaging in a violent confrontation in public, sparking fear and condemnation among residents and social media users.

According to reports, the court found Evans Adayele and Joseph Nyabaah guilty and subsequently handed them one-year custodial sentences each with hard labour. The third accused person, George Okyere, was fined 500 penalty units, equivalent to GH¢6,000. In addition to the fine, he was ordered to sign a three-year bond of good behaviour.

The sentencing has been welcomed by many members of the public who believe the punishment sends a strong warning against acts of violence and lawlessness in communities. Authorities have also reiterated their commitment to dealing decisively with individuals who engage in violent conduct that threatens public safety and peace.