THE EMBATTLED founder and Chief Executive Officer of defunct Capital Bank, Ato Essien, has filed another application at the Court of Appeal, this time challenging the decision of an Accra High Court not to stay proceedings in his trial pending the determination of an appeal.
The application, filed by his lawyers on May 4, 2022, is seeking the appellate court to stay proceedings in the High Court pending its determination of an appeal against the High Court admitting unsigned minutes of meetings of the Executive Committee and some board members of the bank into evidence.
Ato Essien has expressed his dissatisfaction with the court admitting the minutes which were not signed, arguing that its admission could be injurious to his (Essien’s) defence.
Appearing before the court yesterday, Baffuor Gyawu Bonsu Ashia, who held brief for Thaddeus Sory, counsel for the accused, told the court that the application at the Court of Appeal is scheduled for May 23, and therefore, prayed it to adjourn the matter pending the determination of the repeat application.
The prosecution led by Marina Appiah Opare, a Chief State Attorney, opposed the application and prayed the court to proceed with the trial in which Mr. Essien together with Tetteh Nettey and Fitzgerald Odonkor are accused of allegedly stealing from the GH¢620 million Bank of Ghana gave the defunct bank as liquidity support.
The court, presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffuor, a Court of Appeal judge sitting as an additional High Court judge, asked Mr. Essien’s counsel what injustice will be done his client if the trial proceeded pending the determination of the appeal, and Mr. Ashia said “it will adversely affect my client if we proceed because this court will be relying on documents which are detrimental to the case of A1 (Ato Essien).”
Justice Kyei Baffuor in his ruling indicated that he did not find any clear provisions in the rules of court whether civil or criminal proceeding that precludes him from proceeding with the trial, as an application for stay of proceedings at the appellate court cannot operate as the stay of proceedings itself.
“Nonetheless, I have given the prayer the most thoughtful consideration and in order not to create the impression that proceedings before me in the face of that application will unfairly prejudice the determination of that application, I will exercise my discretion to stay the proceedings before me,” he held and adjourned the case to May 26 for continuation.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak