Blame Exim Bank for loan fraud, not Wontumi, Haruna Mohammed argues

Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Haruna Mohammed, has defended Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, amid criminal charges linked to an Exim Bank loan, stating that any alleged wrongdoing should be directed at the bank and not the beneficiary.

Speaking on Channel One Newsroom on Sunday, May 17, Mr Mohammed accused Attorney General Dominic Ayine of attempting to criminalise political opponents before the facts are fully examined in court.

He argued that Chairman Wontumi followed all necessary procedures in obtaining the facility and stressed that the charges appear politically motivated and unfairly targeted at him.

“The Ashanti Regional Chairman did not pick a cutlass to go to the bank to pick the loan. If for anything at all, he went through the due process. And if they think something is wrong with how he was given the loan, then it must be the bank, not him. In this particular circumstance, you can see that it is a clear target,” he stated.

Chairman Wontumi, together with Thomas Antwi Boasiako, who is currently at large, and Wontumi Farms Limited, has been charged in connection with an alleged multi-million cedi fraud and money laundering scheme involving an Exim Bank loan.

Court documents filed at the High Court in Accra show that the accused persons are facing four charges: defrauding by false pretence, uttering forged documents, money laundering, and intentionally causing financial loss to a public institution.

According to the charge sheet dated May 15, 2026, the accused persons allegedly secured about GH¢14.3 million from Exim Bank in 2018 under the pretext of establishing a large-scale farming project.

Prosecutors claim that Wontumi Farms Limited applied for a GH¢19 million loan facility with documentation indicating that the company had secured a 100,000-acre parcel of land for the agricultural venture.