U.S. District Judge William M. Nickerson has sentenced Kweku Wiredu Acquah, 62, of Aberdeen, Maryland to 27 months in prison. This will be followed by three years of supervised release, for making a false statement in a loan and credit application in connection with a scheme that caused the Ex-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) to lose over $7million.
This was announced on August 15 in the United States by Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Nikerson also ordered Acquah to pay restitution of $6,437,403, the ascertainable amount of loss at the time of his plea. United States Attorney, Rod J. Rosenstien stated, “As a result of Mr. Acquah’s fraud scheme, the US government was misled into guaranteeing loans to foreigners at the expense of U.S. taxpayers’ dollars.
Investigating and prosecuting people who defraud the United States government is one our highest priorities. According to his plea agreement, Acquah owned and operated Bedford International Services (Bedford International), located on North Charles Street in Baltimore, which financed the export of capital equipment, typically heavy machinery to Africa. Ex-Im Bank, the official export credit agency of the United States, assists exporters by guaranteeing loans made by U.S banks to credit-worthy foreign buyers for purchases of U.S. goods and services. With Ex-Im Bank’s loan guarantee, foreign buyers are able to obtain longer repayment terms and lower interest rates that are generally available in the buyers’ own countries.
Additionally, Ex-Im Bank assumes credit risks the private sector is unable or unwilling to accept. As a result, Ex-Im Bank requires foreign buyers to make a “cash payment” to the U.S. exporter equal to at least 15% of the US supply contract. The 15% payment can be borrowed from a third party lender or from the exporter itself at a market terms.To facilitate the export of the equipment, Acquah assisted foreign buyers in obtaining loans from U.S. banks. In order to obtain those loans, guaranteed by Ex-Im Bank, Acquah falsely represented that the buyers paid Bedford International 15% down payment, when in fact, no such down payment had been received. Four of Acquah’s buyers defaulted on loans guaranteed by Ex-Im bank, causing a loss to the Bank of $7,266,423 in principal plus interest.
United States Attorney, Rod J. Rosenstein praised the investigative work performed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and thanked Assistance U. S. Attorney Bonnie S. Greenberg, who prosecuted the case.
