How Alistair Mathias helps Ghanaian politicians inflate costs of govt projects

Alistair Mathias, a Canadian gold smuggler, has made headlines over the past few weeks in Ghana following revelations in a documentary by Al Jazeera that he smuggles $40 million worth of gold from the country every month.

It appears that Alistair was not only involved in the smuggling of gold out of Ghana but also in the allocation of government contracts for projects.

In one of the episodes of the undercover investigations by the Investigative Unit of Al Jazeera, Alistair Mathis said that his firm acted as an intermediary in the allocation contracts for projects by the government of Ghana.

He narrated that he and Ghanaian politicians inflate the cost of projects, which are paid to him. He would then pay the contractors the actual cost of the project and share the balance with the Ghanaian politician.

“I buy a lot of stuff in my name on behalf of politicians… In Africa, I do government contracts. In Ghana, I take tenders, construction of roads, 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.

“What happens is that the government will give me a contract. There are a lot of commissions involved. They want commissions, he wants commissions,” he said,

Alistair then went on to narrate how the spoils of Ghanaian government contracts are shared between himself and corrupt politicians.

He and his firm basically act as banks and take commissions on behalf of politicians, which he shares with them.

“So, for example, the Ghana government contract for Mathias Holdings, I get the contract. I subcontract to you.

“If it is a $100 million contract, the Ghana government pays me the $100 million. I give it to you, and you say it is $80 million. I have an agreement with them, and they will get $15 million and I will probably get $5 million,” he said.

Alistair added that he keeps the money for the politicians and delivers it to them as and when they want it or uses it for transactions on their behalf.

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