Forensic report reveals Gold-for Oil 'systemic fraud’

A forensic risk assessment of Ghana’s Gold-for-Oil (G4O) programme has revealed staggering fiscal leakages, systemic fraud and governance failures, sparking fierce calls from IMANI Africa and a coalition of oversight institutions for urgent prosecution and recovery of stolen revenues, reports My Joy Online. The multinational review, drawing data from the National Petroleum Authority, the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (Bost), and Customs, exposed a pattern of opacity, preferential access, and structural loopholes that enabled massive revenue loss. On the gold side of the programme, investigators found there were no contracts between the Bank of Ghana and the Precious Minerals Marketing Company, a lapse that allowed weak pricing controls, discretionary exchange rate practices and mandatory delivery quotas that encouraged smuggling. The report described the system as a ‘deliberate architecture of obfuscation’ designed to conceal leakage and frustrate accountability. Serious concerns were also raised about former Bost officials and an allied company accused of exploiting the scheme through undisclosed offshore assets, trade-based money laundering, and breaches of fiduciary duty. The petroleum leg of the programme was no less troubling. Investigators cited missing documentation, unchecked exemptions and Bost’s dominant role in controlling cargoes. The assessment further revealed that all international suppliers involved in the G4O scheme had opaque ownership structures and were linked to high-risk jurisdictions such as Dubai, Cyprus and Switzerland. IMANI’s president, Franklin Cudjoe, said: ‘This forensic assessment confirms IMANI’s longstanding fears: the Gold-for-Oil programme was systematically weaponised against the state. Ghana must now pursue uncompromising forensic audits and criminal prosecutions...'