Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Justice Srem-Sai, has revealed that Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi,  the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), is at the centre of a major criminal investigation.

In a Facebook post published on Thursday, 28 May 2025, Justice Srem-Sai confirmed that Wontumi is being investigated for a series of serious offences, including fraud, causing financial loss to the state, and money laundering.

The Deputy Attorney-General further disclosed that the probe extends beyond Ghana’s borders and forms part of an ongoing international organised crime investigation being conducted in collaboration with global law enforcement agencies.

“Suspect Bernard Antwi Boasiako, a.k.a. Chairman Wontumi, is under investigation for various criminal offences… The criminal investigation is running concurrently with asset recovery processes—to prevent further dissipation of what law enforcement agencies strongly suspect to be proceeds of crime,” the Deputy A-G noted.

He added that a second phase of the investigation is tied to a “larger international organised crime scheme,” and that the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) is working closely with international counterparts to pursue leads.

Justice Srem-Sai’s public statement comes in the wake of dramatic protests by Minority NPP Members of Parliament, who on Thursday staged a walkout in Parliament and later marched to the EOCO headquarters in Accra to demand the release of their party stalwart.

The protest followed reports that Chairman Wontumi had been detained overnight after failing to meet a GH¢50 million bail condition imposed by EOCO in connection with the ongoing investigations.

For more than three hours, the NPP MPs and party executives demonstrated outside EOCO’s offices, condemning the bail terms as excessive and politically motivated.

However, the Deputy Attorney-General’s statement has provided the first detailed justification for Wontumi’s detention, underlining the gravity of the allegations and the caution with which law enforcement is handling the case.