Armajaro is one of three companies that were banned by the Ghana Cocoa Board from operating on the western border of Ghana after being indicted for facilitating the smuggling of cocoa across Ghana's border with Côte d'Ivoire.[7] Armajaro was barred from trading in 13 districts in western Ghana after a journalist filmed one of its contractors agreeing to smuggle cocoa across the border to Ivory Coast where prices were higher. After the results of an inquiry by the Ghana cocoa board, the ban on Armajaro was lifted in September in all but one district. Bans on two local trading companies, which had been implicated by the same journalist, were also lifted.[8] The case has caused additional scandal after it was revealed that the British Government had lobbied for Armajaro which was also a significant donor to the Conservative party as well as to Andrew Mitchell, the international development secretary who reportedly intervened on Anthony Ward's behalf after receiving £40,000 in donations from the millionaire's company to his parliamentary office.