The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has been petitioned by a Switzerland-based oil company to launch a criminal investigation into Kevin Okyere, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Springfield Energy, a billion-dollar oil company and his Partners.
The Switzerland-based oil company has accused Kevin Okyere and partners of a “systematic and orchestrated economic crime” involving nearly US$93 million allegedly perpetrated by Springfield Exploration & Production Limited and GMP Energy Limited, both Ghanaian oil companies.
However, Springfield Exploration & Production Limited has denied any wrongdoing, describing the petition as “misleading and damaging”. GMP Energy, solely owned by one of the partners in Springfield, and also named, has yet to respond to the claims by the Swiss firm.
Alberto G. Salsiccia, Chief Financial Officer of Petraco Oil Company SA in a formal petition dated 16 May 2025, accused Springfield, GMP Energy, and their key officers Kevin Okyere, Geena Malkani Punjabi, and Emmanuel Ansah Bernasko of executing a sophisticated fraud scheme through “calculated deception and abuse of business relationships” in Ghana’s petroleum sector.
According to Alberto G. Salsiccia, the allegations span two major schemes: a petroleum products fraud totalling over US$30M, and a unitisation loan fraud amounting to at least US$63M.
The petition claims that GMP Energy Limited fraudulently retained over 35,000 metric tonnes of gasoline (worth US$29.3 million), which was supplied under a contract with EDURC Company DMCC and subsequently assigned to Petraco.
Despite receiving full payment from the state-owned Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST), GMP executives are alleged to have deliberately concealed the receipt of the funds and falsely claimed non-payment.
“Geena Malkani and Kevin Okyere also admitted to wrongfully retaining the funds during a face-to-face meeting with us in Accra on 3 February 2025,” Mr Salsiccia wrote.
He added, “Despite receiving full payment from BOST, Geena Malkani, Kevin Okyere, and Emmanuel Ansah Bernasko have: deliberately concealed the receipt of this payment from us; made systematic false representations about non-payment coordinated with certain officials at BOST to corroborate these false claims; and diverted the proceeds for their personal benefit and other business operations.”
According to Petraco, the second scheme centres on a US$50 million loan extended to Springfield Exploration & Production Limited under a Facility Agreement signed in February 2023. The money was purportedly intended to finance a pending unitisation project involving Eni Ghana, a project Petraco now asserts was never realistically viable.
“Our due diligence was based on misrepresentations by Springfield and its executives, particularly Kevin Okyere,” said Mr Salsiccia. “They claimed the unitisation was imminent, had full government approvals, and guaranteed returns, none of which was true.”
He added, “The perpetrators have leveraged their business connections to evade accountability. These actions constitute organised economic crime and are of serious international consequence.”
The petition outlines the following allegations concerning the loan arrangement: “The second scheme involves the fraudulent obtaining of loans totalling US$50 million through the following deception:
“Kevin Okyere approached our company seeking a loan to facilitate a purported unitisation project with Eni Ghana Exploration & Production Limited, representing that the unitisation of Eni’s Sankofa Gye Nyame (SGN) Field and Springfield’s West Cape Three Points (WCTP) Afina discovery was imminent and certain.
“Springfield Exploration & Production Limited claimed it had secured all necessary approvals from the Petroleum Commission and government. The project was said to guarantee returns, with repayment to be made from crude oil proceeds.
“Based on these representations, our company agreed under a Facility Agreement dated 7 February 2023 to make available up to US$100 million to Springfield, to be drawn in two tranches of US$50 million.
“Springfield drew down the first tranche of US$50 million in two disbursements of US$25 million each, under utilisation requests signed by Kevin Okyere on 7 and 27 February 2023.
“Springfield represented that it would repay the US$50 million if unitisation did not occur within 18 months of the first utilisation date, that is, by 7 August 2024.”
