Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Haruna Mohammed, has defended Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, over charges linked to an Exim Bank loan, insisting any alleged wrongdoing should be attributed to the bank and not the beneficiary.
Speaking on Channel One Newsroom on Sunday, May 17, Haruna Mohammed accused Attorney General Dominic Ayine of seeking to criminalise political opponents before matters are fully tested in court.
He argued that Chairman Wontumi followed due process in securing the loan and insisted the charges are politically motivated and aimed at unfairly targeting 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 that something is wrong with regards to how he was given the loan, then it must be the bank, not him. In this particular circumstance, you can see that it’s a clear target,” he added.
Chairman Wontumi, together with Thomas Antwi Boasiako, who is currently at large, and Wontumi Farms Limited, have been formally charged in connection with an alleged multi-million cedi fraud and money laundering scheme linked to a loan facility from Exim Bank.
Court documents filed at the High Court in Accra indicate that the accused persons are facing four criminal charges, including 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 guise of establishing a large-scale farming project.
Prosecutors claim Wontumi Farms Limited applied for a GH¢19 million loan facility with documents allegedly indicating that the company had secured a 100,000-acre parcel of land for the agricultural venture.
