The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) has frozen all bank accounts associated with Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, and his mining company, Akonta Mining, amid allegations of money laundering and financial irregularities.
Sources at the FIC confirmed to TV3 that the action was taken under Section 56(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044), which empowers the Centre to freeze accounts where there is reasonable suspicion of criminal financial activity.
In a directive circulated to financial institutions, the FIC ordered an immediate halt to all transactions involving Chairman Wontumi, Akonta Mining, and another affiliated company, Hallmark Civil Engineering Limited.
The freeze is to remain in effect “pending further directives,” the notice stated.
This development is part of a wider investigation into suspected illicit financial operations, with the FIC ramping up enforcement across various sectors. Chairman Wontumi, who currently serves as the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), has been under increasing scrutiny following a string of controversies surrounding his mining business.
Just days earlier, on April 21, 2025, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, labeled Akonta Mining a “criminal syndicate” during a press briefing.
He accused the company of conducting illegal mining operations in protected forest reserves and announced that its license had been revoked.
The FIC’s latest move is being interpreted as a major escalation in the government’s crackdown on financial crimes, particularly in the extractive sector, where regulatory oversight has been called into question.
Chairman Wontumi has yet to publicly comment on the account freeze or the ongoing investigations.
