Ato Essien
The embattled founder and former Chief Executive Officer of defunct Capital Bank, William Ato Essien, has a made a last minute attempt to avoid been sent to prison by paying GH¢4 million out of the GH¢20 million he should have paid by April 28, 2023.
He has also filed an application challenging a motion filed by the Attorney General asking an Accra High Court to send him to jail for failing to pay the GH¢20 million as part of an agreement which kept him from going to jail after pleading guilty to stealing from the defunct bank.
Mr. Essien, in his application, is practically begging the court not to impose a custodial sentence on him as his inability to pay the GH¢20 million was not deliberate but caused primarily by the economic hardship in the country.
Per his affidavit in his support of the motion, he said one of the reasons he was not able to pay the amount agreed upon is that he was unable to travel to take advantage of business opportunities because he could not procure the release of his passport to him by the court.
Another reason he is relying on to convince the court not to jail him is that some of the local business options he pursued either yielded no fruits or have stalled as a result of the dire economic and financial circumstances in the country.
It is his argument that it will be unfair for the court to impose a custodial sentence on him as it will not serve the interest of justice.
It is also his argument that having paid more than one third of the agreed amount, imposing a custodial sentence on him will result in a miscarriage of justice and will offend the principle that a person must not be condemned before a hearing is given to them.
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 pay the remaining GH¢60 million in three installments of GH¢20 million each, with the first installment 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 installment in full on or before April 28, 2023, nullifies the agreement and he ought to pay the entire GH¢60 million or he should be arrested and brought before the court for him to be committed to prison.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak