The Global Reach of Foreign Bribery Spreads to U.S. Banks
Foreign bribery remains one of the most persistent threats to the integrity of today’s global financial system. As multinational corporations and financial institutions increasingly facilitate transactions involving foreign governments, politically exposed individuals, and billions of dollars in international capital, opportunities for corruption can emerge alongside legitimate commercial activity. In recent years, U.S. authorities have intensified efforts to hold both corporations and individuals accountable for using the international financial system to facilitate such schemes, bringing about prosecutions for individual and organizational non-compliance in this regard.
Last week Goldman Sachs investment banker Asante Kwaku Berko was convicted by a federal jury in New York. The conviction brings a years-long criminal case involving bribery, international finance and a proposed power plant in Ghana to a conclusion. According to unsealed court documents, Berko; a dual U.S.-Ghanaian citizen and former Executive Director in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman, was found guilty of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), violating the FCPA and conspiring to launder money. Beginning in 2014, Berko was reportedly responsible for securing and managing a deal between the Republic of Ghana and Aksa Enerji Uretim A.S. (Aksa), a Turkish energy company and Goldman client, for the construction and financing of a power plant in Ghana amidst a national energy crisis in the country.2 The agreement had the potential to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in profits on behalf of the parties involved. However, prosecutors alleged that Berko used his position and relationships to help Aksa secure the project, but the effort allegedly went far beyond legitimate investment banking as Berko and his co-conspirators arranged more than $1 million in bribes to Ghanaian government officials in an effort to secure approvals and political support for the power plant.
These alleged payments included approximately $1 million intended for Ghana’s Minister of Power and another $250,000 for the minister’s senior adviser. Prosecutors also presented evidence that five Ghanaian officials received $5,000 each during an all-expenses-paid trip to Turkey to inspect equipment associated with the project.2 After Ghana’s Parliament ratified the power agreement in 2015, additional payments were allegedly discussed, including money intended for members of Parliament. The ploy’s participants also were discovered to have taken extensive measures to disguise these payments from regulators, other Goldman executives, and even the very compliance officials tasked with vetting the deal. Those involved reportedly utilized a series of shell companies, sham invoices, nominee bank accounts and cash withdrawals to move money while concealing the true purpose behind the transactions, with Berko himself actively attempting to conceal the scheme from his firm’s internal compliance systems. Prosecutors found that he used personal email accounts (versus his Goldman email account) to discuss the transaction and the alleged bribes, encouraged others to do the same, and misled Goldman compliance personnel about various aspects of the project. Not until years later did Goldman ultimately withdraw from the deal after corruption concerns emerged.
According to prosecutors, however, Berko continued pursuing the deal and participating in the alleged bribery scheme even after the bank had stepped away. That distinction became central to the government’s case. The prosecution did not portray Goldman Sachs itself as a participant in the Ghanaian bribery scheme. Instead, prosecutors argued that Berko exploited his position as a Goldman banker while deliberately concealing his conduct from his employer. Following his conviction on all counts, he now faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for November 10th. However, the criminal conviction was not the first government action against Berko. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought a civil enforcement case against him in 2020 alleging that he had arranged payments to Ghanaian officials through intermediaries in connection with the same general transaction. Berko ultimately settled the SEC case in 2021, agreeing to pay approximately $329,000 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest without admitting or denying the allegations.1 However, additional criminal investigations continued well beyond this point, with Berko ultimately arrested in the United Kingdom in 2022 and extradited to the United States in 2024 to face the federal charges.
A Pattern of Deliberate Evasion
Goldman Sachs representatives have been no strangers to the international crime spotlight over the past decade. A prime example emerged as part of the now infamous 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) strategic development fund created by Malaysia in 2009. The fund, which involved numerous power-players within the global financial realm, ultimately developed into the center of a massive international financial fraud and corruption scandal involving the theft of over $4.5 billion, money laundering through global financial institutions, and led to the downfall of former Prime Minister Najib Razak. As part of the investigation into widespread improprieties related to the fund, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) ultimately established that Goldman bankers and their associates, amongst countless others, paid more than $1 billion in bribes to dozens of officials throughout Malaysia and Abu Dhabi to secure the bank’s role in approximately $6.5 billion of 1MDB bond offerings. As the fallout from the investigation continued, Goldman’s former Southeast Asia chairman Tim Leissner pleaded guilty to FCPA and money-laundering charges in 2018 before being sentenced to 2 years in federal prison for his crimes. Prosecutors said Leissner worked with Malaysian financier Jho Low and others to obtain Goldman business involving 1MDB while facilitating the payment of more than $1.6 billion in bribes. As part of his prosecution agreement, Leissner agreed to forfeit tens of millions of dollars and became a key cooperating witness for prosecutors. Goldman’s managing director of investment banking Roger Ng was also convicted in the case after prosecutors found that he helped to facilitate the diversion of billions of dollars from 1MDB and received approximately $35 million in illicit proceeds. He was ultimately sentenced to 10 years in prison. Goldman itself ultimately admitted to FCPA violations and paid more than $2.9 billion in a coordinated U.S. and international resolution.3
Amongst other takeaways, these cases demonstrate why the FCPA; a measure which makes illegal the payment of bribes to foreign government officials to get or keep business, remains such a significant risk for multi-national financial institutions. Investment banks frequently operate at the intersection of foreign governments, sovereign wealth funds, deal with politically exposed persons and handle significant pools of capital. Transactions that can generate hundreds of millions of dollars in potential revenue can as a result create powerful incentives to overlook, or in these cases deliberately conceal, corruption risks. In spite of not being found liable in relation to this latest case, for Goldman Sachs, the Berko conviction carries significance beyond the individual defendant. It arrives years after the 1MDB scandal forced the bank to confront one of the largest foreign corruption cases in its history and serves as another reminder of the consequences that can arise when bankers operate in high-risk international markets. Nevertheless, the continuing prosecution of individuals years after the underlying illicit transactions took place demonstrates that U.S. authorities remain willing to pursue bankers personally when they believe international financial transactions have been transformed into vehicles for bribery and money laundering.
Citations
1. Asante K. Berko: SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Former Executive of Financial Services Company. US Securities and Exchange Commission. Litigation Release No. 25121. June 23, 2021
2. Former Goldman Sachs Investment Banker Convicted of Foreign Bribery and Money Laundering. US Department of Justice, US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York. August 6, 2026.
3. Goldman Sachs Charged in Foreign Bribery Case and Agrees to Pay Over $2.9 Billion. US Department of Justice. October 22, 2020.