William Ato Essien
THE FOUNDER and Chief Executive Officer of Defunct Capital Bank, William Ato Essien, who is standing trial for allegedly stealing money from the bank leading to its collapse, yesterday closed his defence in the trial.
The accused opened his defence on January 27 this year and denied the charges of conspiracy to steal, stealing, and money laundering levelled against him and two others.
Ato Essien, together with the defunct bank’s former Managing Director, Fitzgerald Odonkor, as well as Tetteh Nettey, a former Managing Director of MC Management Services, owned by Ato Essien, are before the court charged with 23 counts of conspiracy to steal, stealing, and money laundering.
The three are alleged to have misappropriated part of the GH¢620 million liquidity support given to the bank by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to enable it service its maturing debt.
Mr. Essien, in his defence, stated that he received GH¢27.5 million as ‘finder’s fee’ for the role he played in securing the GH¢620 million as liquidity support from the Bank of Ghana.
He denied conspiring with anyone to commit any crime when he was in charge of the insolvent bank, adding that “there was no agreement between myself and 2nd and 3rd accused persons to act together for the sole purpose to commit a crime.”
“I have not acted with either the 2nd or 3rd accused persons to act together or facilitate the transfers or movement of the legitimate investments by the Capital Bank,” he contended.
Mr. Essien, in the course of his defence, subpoenaed the Governor of the Bank of Ghana to provide him with the statement of account of Capital Bank between June 2015 and August 2017, an order which was complied with by the Central Bank.
His lawyer, Baffuor Gyawu Bonsu Ashia, in leading Emmanuel Edward Arhin, the Deputy Chief Manager at the Banking Department of BoG, asked the witness whether Capital Bank’s account was debited with interest payments on the GH¢620 million liquidity support, and the witness said yes.
Counsels for the other two accused persons did not cross-examine the witness, but Marina Appiah Opare, a Chief State Attorney, in her cross-examination asked the witness whether the interests that were debited from the accounts of Capital Bank by BoG were in accordance with the terms and conditions for the grant of the liquidity support. The witness said yes.
The court, presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffuor, has ordered Tettey Nettey, to personally inform his lawyer who was not in court, to adequately prepare for the proceedings on March 24, when the accused person opens his defence.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak