Wontumi pleads not guilty in GH¢30m Exim Bank loan case
Prosecutors allege that forged documents were used to obtain funding for a farming project that was never carried out. The case returns on October 27, with the prosecution given 14 days to disclose its evidence.
Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has pleaded not guilty to five charges over the alleged fraudulent procurement of a GH¢30 million loan from the Ghana Export-Import Bank.
The charges include defrauding by false pretence, two counts of uttering forged documents, money laundering and intentionally causing financial loss of GH¢30 million to a public body.
The case has been adjourned to Tuesday, October 272026, at 11am for a case management conference. The prosecution has been given 14 days to file the relevant disclosures.
Wontumi is standing trial with two other accused parties over the loan obtained in 2018. He was arraigned on a new charge sheet filed on 22 September 2026.
According to the prosecution, he presented forged and altered documents to Exim Bank in January 2018 to secure funding for a proposed farming project.
Prosecutors allege that the accused did not undertake the proposed farming activities, purchase agricultural plant and machinery or employ workers for the farm.
They also allege that the accused neither owned nor secured the land they had represented to the bank as available for the project.
The prosecution further contends that Wontumi withdrew substantial sums from the accounts of Wontumi Farms Limited, the third accused, and used the money for personal purposes, including investments in other businesses.
These are prosecution allegations, which Wontumi denies. The court has not determined his guilt in this case.
Following the proceedings, Wontumi was returned to Nsawam Maximum Security Prison, where he is serving a 20-year sentence imposed by a separately constituted High Court in Accra.