How Former Capital Bank CEO Ato Essien got jailed 15 years

Posted on October 13, 2023October 13, 2023
by Nana Kwesi Coomson
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Former Chief Executive Officer of defunct Capital Bank, Ato Essien has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour.

This follows his failure to pay in full an amount of GH¢90 million he agreed to pay the state despite several lifelines given him since December 2022.

Ato Essien pleaded guilty to 16 counts of stealing, money laundering and conspiracy to steal for his role in the collapse of Capital Bank.

He however entered a plea bargain with the state under section 35(7) of the courts ACT 459.

Under the agreement, Mr. Essien was expected to pay GH¢90 million for which he paid GH¢30 million cedis on December 13.

He was to pay the GH¢60 million remainder in three equal instalments in 2023; GH¢20 million by April 28, another GH¢20 million by August 31 and the last GH¢20 million by December 15, 2023.

A major condition of the agreement was that the court would not hesitate to impose a custodial sentence if he missed any of the payment deadlines.

But as of April 28, Mr. Essien had not paid all the GH¢20 million due to be settled.

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ABOUT: Nana Kwesi Coomson

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An Entrepreneur, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Communications Executive and Philanthropist. Editor-in-Chief of www.233times.com. A Senior Journalist with Ghanaian Chronicle Newspaper. An alumnus of Adisadel College where he read General Arts. His first degree is in Bachelor of Arts - Political Science (major) and History (minor) from the University of Ghana. He holds MSc in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Energy with Public Relations (PR) from the Robert Gordon University in the United Kingdom. He is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow who studied at Clark Atlanta University in USA on the Business and Entrepreneurship track.

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