Nduom’s ‘$100m transfers’ pop up in US court

• Posted on June 3, 2021June 3, 2021
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Documents filed at a court in Chicago, United States, by Birim Group LLC against Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, his family and his companies, have revealed how the businessman cum politician allegedly wired over $100 million from Ghana to the US over a period of about three or so years.

Exhibits Filed

On Exhibit A as filed by lawyers representing Birim, there is a tall list showing the wire transfers between 2015 and 2018, which the plaintiff claims were done by the defendants.

Curiously, the transactions were authorised by the Bank of Ghana at the time that the same central bank was working on the financial sector reforms which saw many financial institutions including the licences of Dr. Nduom’s firms being revoked, after the authorities said they had become insolvent.

The huge amounts were transferred in United States Dollars, British Pound Sterling and Euros.

Majority of the funds were transferred to International Business Solutions (IBS), headed by Dr. Nduom’s son Kweku, also a defendant in the case.

The funds appeared to have been moved from various sources in Ghana, mostly Gold Coast Fund Management, Gold Coast Securities Limited (Main Operation), Ghana Growth Fund Company Limited, GN Bank Ltd, GN Life Premium, GN Life Assurance Co. Ltd. and other sources of the Nduom conglomerate.

Wire Transfers

The Birim lawyers have filed at the Chicago court that the defendants wired a total of $75,638,242.84 between 2015 and 2018 as well as a total of 1,282,251.62 Pounds Sterling and a total of 77,375.92 Euros within the same period.

According to Birim lawyers, there was also a period when the defendants transferred a total of $62,947,470.09 as well as a total of 718,529 Pound Sterling and a total of 4,200 Euros to the United States as certified by the Bank of Ghana when the same conglomerate was struggling to pay back the investments of depositors in Ghana.

They also claimed that the defendants wired a total of $5,722,248.70 at some point.

Transaction Details

The Birim lawyers have attached documents to the writ before the Chicago court, showing for instance that in a single day on August 7, 2016, the defendants were able to transfer a total of $8,006,643 in seven different transactions under the authorisation of the Bank of Ghana and all the money went to International Business Solutions LLC.

The first was referenced GNBPTY160000038 (7) from Ghana Growth Fund Company Ltd and the transaction details termed it as ‘payment’ and the amount transferred was $1,000,000.

The second was referenced GNBPYT160000040 (1) from GN Bank Ltd and the transaction details termed it as ‘payment’ and the amount transferred was $2,143.

The third was referenced GNBPYT160000074 (2) from Ghana Growth Fund Company Ltd and the transaction details termed it as ‘payment’ and the amount transferred was $3,000,000.

The fourth was referenced GNBPYT160000075 (7) from Ghana Growth Fund Company Ltd and the transaction details termed it as ‘payment’ and the amount transferred was $1,000,000.

The fifth was referenced GNBPYT170000103 (1) from Ghana Growth Fund Company Ltd and the transaction details termed it as ‘payment’ and the amount transferred was $2,000,000.

The sixth was referenced GNBPYT170000173 (9) from Gold Coast Fund Management and the transaction details termed it as ‘payment’ and the amount transferred was $4,500.

The final payment for the day was referenced GNBPYT170000174 (4) from Ghana Growth Fund Company Ltd and the transaction details termed it as ‘payment of fees’ and the amount transferred was $1,000,000.

More Day Transfers

In another transaction on October 27, 2017, the Birim lawyers also attached documents to the writ before the Chicago court, showing that in a single day, the defendants were able to transfer a total of $7,000,000 in four different transactions under the authorisation of the Bank of Ghana and all the money went to International Business Solutions LLC.

The first was referenced GNBPYT170000212 (5) from Ghana Growth Fund Company and the transaction details termed it as ‘payment of service’ and the amount transferred was $3,000,000.

The second was referenced GNBPYT170000225 (5) from Ghana Growth Fund Company and the transaction details termed it as ‘payment’ and the amount transferred was $1,000,000.

The third was referenced GNBPYT170000231 (8) from Ghana Growth Fund Company and the transaction details termed it as ‘payment services’ and the amount transferred was $1,000,000.

The fourth was referenced GNBPYT170000232 (3) from Gold Coast Fund Management and the transaction details termed it as ‘payment for service’ and the amount transferred was $2,000,000.

Main Writ

On the writ, which is also called complaint in the U.S. federal court system, Birim cites Paa Kwesi Nduom, aka Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, Papa Kwesi Nduom, Kwesi P. Nduom, an individual; GN Bank, an Illinois Federally Chartered Financial Institution; International Business Solutions, LLC, a Virginia limited liability company; Groupe Nduom USA LLC; a Nevada company; GN USA LLC, a Nevada company; GN Money, LLC, a Nevada company; Groupe Nduom, a Ghana company; GN Bank, a Ghana company; Gold Coast Fund Management, aka Blackshield Capital Management, a Ghana company; Yvonne Nduom, an individual; Nana Kweku Nduom, an individual; Edjah Nduom, an individual, Nana Aba Nduom, an individual; Robert Klamp, an individual; James L. Buckner, an individual; Lisa Finch, an individual; Francis Baffuor, an individual; William C. Goodall, an individual; Donald Davidson, an individual and DOES 1 through 100, inclusive, as the defendants.

The case with No: 1:20 cv 07198, Birim is demanding jury trial and has pressed 20 charges against the defendants.

The charges include Federal Civil RICO (18 U.S C. § 1962) Money Laundering, Wire and Mail Fraud, Conspiracy to Violate Federal Civil RICO (18 U.S.C. § 1962(d)), Breach of Contract, Fraud – Promissory Fraud, Fraud – Intentional Misrepresentation, Fraud – Negligent Misrepresentation and Fraud – Concealment.

The rest as filed include Negligence, Conversion, Interference with Contractual Relations, Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage, and Breach of Contract.

Important Exhibit

The attorneys representing Birim have said that “We found that the writ which was released to the Ghanaian public had an important exhibit, showing the money wire transfers. Whoever released the writ, apparently, wanted to hide it, and so they decided not to attach that very important document to the main writ, which they released. Who stands to gain with this information being hidden when the writ itself was released?”

Birim has insisted in the writ that “Defendants’ actions not only cost depositors their life savings and untold hardship; they have contributed significantly to a serious ongoing financial crisis in the Republic of Ghana.”

Fighting Back

But Dr. Nduom, founder and former flag bearer of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), has denied the accusations through his representatives, describing the action by Birim as an attempt to use the court to smear him as a Ghanaian entrepreneur and political leader.

“Birim Group itself is a murky LLC whose members the complaint does not identify. It does not claim to have had any dealings with Dr. Nduom or the other defendants,” the lawyers stated in a motion to dismiss the case.

“Rather, Birim Group claims to have paid for the claims of two Ghanaian citizens, Mavis Amanpene Sekyere and Nana Kwame Twum Barimah (the “Assignors”), who have what at most, amounts to breach-of-contract claims under Ghanaian law against Ghanaian bank, GN Bank and Ghanaian investment firm, Gold Coast Fund Management (GCFM) and collectively, the Ghanaian Defendants,” the defendants argued.

The statement indicated that the plaintiff company did not buy these “claims to recover Ghanaian deposits,” but rather under the pretext to “malign Dr. Nduom, his family and anyone who does business with him.”

By Ernest Kofi Adu