Former Goldman banker paid bribes to officials in Ghana – US tells jury

The bank wasn’t accused of wrongdoing and cooperated with the government investigations Berko was a member of the team at Goldman responsible for securing and managing financing for the power plant project.

A former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker went on trial Tuesday for allegedly bribing government officials in Ghana to secure a lucrative power plant deal for a client.

Asante Berko, 52, and his associates outside the bank paid high-ranking government officials in the West African nation more than US$1 million in bribes a decade ago to approve the development and financing of the multimillion-dollar power plant, prosecutor Katherine Raut told a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York in her opening statement.