Kotei Dzani
The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has referred some owners and directors 10 Savings and Loans Companies to the Attorney General’s for possible prosecution.
EOCO is working with the Attorney General’s Department for the speedy prosecution of person suspected to have been complicit in the failure of those financial institutions.
Names of the savings and loans are Ideal Finance, GN Savings and Loans, CDH Savings and Loans, Midland Savings and Loans, Legacy Capital Savings and Loans.
The remaining institutions were FirsTrust Savings and Loans, Express Savings and Loans, IFS Savings and Loans, UniCredit Savings and Loans and Dream Finance Co. Ltd.
A statement sighted from the Bank of Ghana on Friday December 17, 2021 signed by Sandra Thompson, Secretary of BoG, stated that EOCO has frozen and impounded assets of the suspects to help with reimbursements of the claims of the defunct institutions.
Somewhere in 2019, the Bank of Ghana revoked licenses of some defunct savings and loans companies, finance offices and microfinance institutions.
Bank of Ghana cited a number of potentially criminal actions on the part of these institutions and their shareholders, directors or management.
Following further investigations conducted into the failure of these institutions by the Receiver appointed by BoG, the cases were referred to EOCO for advice.
EOCO has conducted independent investigation into the cases of the aforementioned savings and loan companies and has made recommendations to the Attorney General’s Department for consideration and possible prosecution.
The Receiver for the defunct 347 Microfinance Companies and 23 Savings and Loans Companies and Finance Houses, Eric Nana Nipah, says the government is not only interested in recovering assets and paying depositors, but will also commence prosecutions from August this year.
Mr. Nipah, who had assured a hundred percent payment of depositor claims by end of July, says about 96 percent of all validated depositor claims which stands at GHC5.4 billion have been settled. Some of the depositors are yet to be paid two years after the assurance.
He said with the help of the Economic and Organized Crime Office, EOCO, assets worth about GHC 500 million have been recovered, adding that the work towards the prosecution from August has been carried out in the last one year.
“We will also insist on rendering of stewardship not only to demand accountability but to ensure that due course is given to some situations. We have not relented and that is where EOCO comes in. We have been working with EOCO on potential recoveries and prosecutions for close to a year now. EOCO has done extensive work on investigations and we are at the point that as I speak, dockets are being prepared to be passed on to the AG’s department for prosecution beginning August this year” he said.
The financial sector clean-up, which commenced under the Akufo-Addo administration in August 2017, led to the collapse of nine universal banks, 347 microfinance companies on May 31, 2019.
The Bank of Ghana later in August 2019 again revoked the licenses of twenty-three (23) insolvent savings and loans companies and finance houses, whiles the Securities and Exchange Commission revoked the licenses of over 50 Fund Management Companies.
According to the bank, this was in pursuant to Section 123 (1) of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930), which requires the Bank of Ghana to revoke the license of a Bank or Specialised Deposit-Taking Institution (SDI) where the Bank of Ghana determines that the institution is insolvent.”
Earlier this year, the Economic and Organized Crime Office, froze some 31 accounts and some landed property of Nii Kotei Dzani, a former Council of State member, as part of efforts to among other things retrieve funds from him to settle customers whose funds are locked up with the defunct company. Ideal Finance and FirsTrust Savings and Loans owned by Nii Kotei Dzani were among the 23 savings and loans and finance houses that lost their licenses after they were declared insolvent by the Bank of Ghana as part of the financial sector clean-up.
By Vincent Kubi