Alistair
Mathias, an alleged money launderer has fingered the Ghanaian government in his
shady deals.
In an undercover
investigative documentary by Al Jazeera, Mathias was caught on tape bragging
about his connections in Ghana and how he operates his money laundering
syndicate.
Mathias revealed
that he had executed similar schemes in Ghana and claimed to be good friends
with its President, whom he also said used to be his lawyer.
“In Ghana, I
take tenders, road construction, procurement, supplying different things, oil,
this that. There, all the politicians get taken care of, indirectly because it
allows me to do all my other stuff freely.”
“For example,
Ghana government, I get the contract. I subcontract it to you, $100 million
contract. Ghana government pays me $100 million. I give it to you, and you say
it’s $80 million.”
“In this
scenario, the outstanding $20 million out of the inflated $100 million is
shared per an arrangement reached between Alistair and the said politician,” he
added.
“I’ll have an
arrangement with them, and they get 15… I’ll probably get 5 million. I keep all
of it in Dubai. Whenever they want it, they just tell me and I send it.”
“Ghana’s
President is a good friend of mine, in fact, he was my lawyer,” he said.
He explained
that the politicians involved do not keep assets in their own names but rely on
proxies, with Mathias taking tenders, road construction, procurement, and
supplying different things.
He revealed that
in doing this, he is able to inflate the cost of contracts and subsequently
split the profits with the politicians involved.
However,
representatives of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo have denied that he
knows Mathias.
The Legal
Counsel to President Akufo-Addo described Mathias’ allegation as spurious
calling on Ghanaians to ignore it.
According to
him, the President has not been in private practice since 2000 and his lawyer
has never acted as Mathias’ counsel.
“The President
has not been in private practice since 2000, neither has the President nor his
law firm, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co, acted as lawyer for this Alistair Mathias
or Guldrest. The President does not know this Mathias or Guldrest. Ignore the
spurious allegations,” Ekow Essuman wrote on Twitter.
Mathias himself
has denied ever being awarded any tender by the Ghanaian government or entering
into any government contracts in any African country.
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