The Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has filed an application before an Accra High Court urging it to send founder and former Chief Executive Officer of defunct Capital Bank, William Ato Essien to prison for failing to pay GH¢20 million as part of an agreement which kept him out of jail.
Mr. Essien was standing trial for stealing from the GH¢620 million liquidity support given to the struggling bank in 2015, which led to its insolvency and subsequent collapse but managed to stay out of prison after reaching an agreement with the Office of the Attorney General to plead guilty, pay the amount stolen as well as restitution.
Per the agreement, he was to pay an amount of GH¢30 million by December 1, 2022, which had already been paid.
He will then to pay the remaining GH¢60 million in three instalments of GH¢20 million each with the first instalment scheduled to be paid on April 28, 2023, the second one on August 31, 2023, and the last on December 15, 2023.
The court, presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, a Court of Appeal judge sitting as an additional High Court judge, had added that a failure by Ato Essien to pay the next instalment in full on or before April 28, 2023 nullifies the ruling agreement and he should be arrested and brought before the court for him to be committed to prison.
The court also prohibited Ato Essien from being appointed the director of any bank, financial institution or deposit-taking institution.
But the Attorney General in an application before the court indicates that the Office on April 28, 2023, wrote to the Controller and Accountant General to ascertain whether as at close of day on April 28, 2023 Ato Essien had paid the GH¢20 million as contained in the agreement and in fulfilment of the orders of the court.
“That in a response dated 2nd May 2023 the Controller and Accountant General informed the applicant that no such payment had been made by the respondent (copies of the said letters attached herewith and marked as Exhibits AG1 and AG2),” the application states.
It adds that “having failed to fulfil a condition imposed on him by this Honourable Court under section 35 of the Courts Act, the outstanding amount under the agreement has become due and the respondent (Ato Essien) is liable to a custodial sentence by the Court.”
The application has been scheduled for May 11, 2023.
Source: Daily Guide
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