Airbus bribery scandal: John Mahama is ‘Government Official 1’ but… – OSP

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has named former President John Dramani Mahama as the individual referenced as ‘Government official 1’ in the Airbus bribery scandal, however, there is nothing to show that he was paid any bribes.

This conclusion, according to the Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng, follows extensive investigation spanning four years by his office.

Addressing the media in Accra, Mr. Agyebeng explained that the investigation into the scandal and the revelation of the identities of the persons involved were necessary due to the public interest in the issue.

“The individual described as Government Official One by the UK court and Individual One by the US court is John Dramani Mahama. He is a citizen of Ghana, he was the Vice President of Ghana from 7th January 2009 to 2012. The President of Ghana from 2012 to 7th January 2017. His tenure of office as the Vice President coincided with the time-frame of the UK and US investigation of the first airbus campaign into the sale of 2C295 aircraft to Ghana.

“His term of office as the President of Ghana occurred during the UK-US investigation time frame of the second airbus campaign for the sale of 1C29 aircraft to Ghana.”

This revelation by the current OSP follows a similar assertion made by Ghana’s first Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu.

Background

Ghana is one of five countries in which the European aviation giant, Airbus, paid or attempted to pay millions of dollars in bribes in exchange for contracts, leading a court in Britain to slap a fine of £5 billion on the company.

In court documents and hearings, Airbus admitted five counts of failing to prevent bribery, using a network of secret agents to pay large-scale backhanders to officials in foreign countries, including Ghana, to land high-value contracts.

According to the report, there are six key actors involved in the scandal regarding Ghana.

Investigators from the UK’s SFO identified them only as Government Official 1 (high ranking and elected), Intermediary 5 (British national and close relative of Government Official 1), Company D (corporate vehicle for Intermediary 5 – shareholder), Intermediary 6 (British national and associate of Intermediary 5), Intermediary 7 (British national and associate of Intermediary 5), as well as Intermediary 8 (Spanish company and front for Intermediary 5).

Other British citizens; Philip Sean Middlemiss; Sarah Davis and Sarah Furneaux are connected to the case for their roles in the scandal.