Good morning. A former Goldman Sachs banker appeared in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to charges he bribed Ghanaian government officials to secure a lucrative power-plant contract for a client.

The arraignment of Asante Berko, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Ghana, comes after the banker fought his extradition from the U.K., where he worked at Goldman’s London subsidiary. 

• Power-plant deal gone awry: The bribes Berko is accused of arranging took place between December 2014 and March 2017, according to prosecutors. At the time, Berko was an executive director in the Goldman subsidiary’s investment banking division and was working to secure a deal between a Turkish company (which The Wall Street Journal earlier identified as Aksa Energy) and the Ghanaian government for the construction and financing of a power-plant in Ghana.
   
• The bribes: The bribes he allegedly arranged included providing five Ghanaian officials with an all-expenses-paid trip to Turkey to view equipment for the power plant. During the trip, the officials allegedly received $5,000 each, according to prosecutors. Berko and others discussed the payment of bribes extensively in emails, prosecutors said.

Lawyers for Berko didn’t return a request for comment.

“The former employee left the firm over seven years ago and the firm withdrew from involvement in the transaction at issue,” a Goldman Sachs spokesperson said Tuesday.

China tycoon who angered Beijing found guilty of fraud in New York.

A New York jury on Tuesday convicted controversial China critic Guo Wengui of bilking his followers out of more than $1 billion to sustain his lavish lifestyle.

Potential heavy sentence. Guo was found guilty on nine of the 12 federal charges against him, including a broad racketeering count and some of the related fraud charges. Several of the counts carry potential sentences of 20 years in prison, and Guo faces forfeiture of assets. Judge Analisa Torres scheduled sentencing for Nov. 19. Guo has been in federal custody without bail since March 2023. 

Impact on Guo. The felony conviction punctuates the bizarre saga of Guo, who crafted an image as a wealthy Chinese insider turned Beijing’s No. 1 enemy. It could ultimately sink his asylum application to remain in the U.S., far from Beijing authorities who have made no secret of their desire to punish him.

Ozy Media and CEO Carlos Watson convicted of fraud.

Ozy Media and Chief Executive Carlos Watson were convicted Tuesday of repeatedly deceiving investors about the financial health of his once promising digital-media startup. 

The Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office charged Watson and his company last year, alleging he conspired with two other high-ranking employees to fabricate Ozy’s revenue and profitability in order to woo investors and keep the sinking business afloat.

• Tyson Foods’ suspended chief financial officer John R. Tyson pleaded not guilty following his June arrest on charges including driving while intoxicated and careless driving.
   
• U.K. antitrust officials are weighing whether Microsoft’s partnership with Inflection AI and the hiring of former employees poses a threat to competition.
   
• The Supreme Court’s rulings this month regarding how federal agencies regulate business will inspire new legal battles that could have significant long-term effects on the marketing industry.

Amazon’s Prime Day is a ‘major cause of injuries’ for workers, Senate probe finds.

Amazon’s Prime Day sales event, a shopping bonanza for customers, has been “a major cause of injuries” for warehouse workers, a Senate probe found.

The report. The report, released by Sen. Bernie Sanders, (I., Vt.), found that Amazon’s injury rate jumped during Prime Day and the holiday season. The report, which followed a yearlong investigation, cited internal data the e-commerce company provided from its Prime Day in 2019. The report also accused Amazon of prioritizing speed over safety, saying it pressured employees to work long hours and shirked some safety procedures.

• A fresh wave of tariffs could revive inflation and pressure central banks to keep their key interest rates high, the International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday.
   
• A top Federal Reserve official suggested an interest-rate cut could be warranted in the coming months—though not at the central bank’s meeting in two weeks—if a recent inflation slowdown continues.
   
• The commercial real-estate meltdown is spilling over into the bond market. Defaults are mounting in a favorite Wall Street mortgage-bond investment, setting off fresh alarms about the future of offices and malls in cities across the U.S.
   
• The U.K.’s rate of inflation was unchanged at the Bank of England’s target in June, leaving the door open for an interest-rate cut at its August meeting, despite concerns about rapid rises in services prices.
   
• The government of French President Emmanuel Macron resigned on Tuesday in a sign of the unprecedented political gridlock that has gripped France as it prepares to host the Summer Olympics.
   
• Wildfires are erupting again in western Canada during a suffocating heat wave in the province of Alberta, forcing evacuations and causing one of Canada’s largest oil companies to curb production.

• Sen. Bob Menendez was convicted Tuesday of peddling his office’s power in exchange for gold bars, cash and a convertible, a likely death blow to the longtime New Jersey lawmaker’s political career.
   
• Elon Musk said he is moving the headquarters of two of his companies, X Corp. and SpaceX, to Texas from California.
   
• Journalist-turned-media executive William Lewis was hired by Jeff Bezos to turn around the Washington Post, but a past role at News Corp is casting a shadow.
   
• The Biden administration has declined for almost a year to provide security to Robert O’Brien, a former national security adviser in the Trump White House, despite behind-the-scenes pressure from lawmakers and what they describe as ongoing threats against his life.
   
• Proceedings in the secret trial of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich are set to resume Thursday, almost a month earlier than originally scheduled after a request from his defense team, according to the Russian court where he faces a false accusation of espionage.

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