Capital Bank collapse: Ato Essien told very few truths in that interview – Sekondi MP

The Member of Parliament for Sekondi, Andrew Mercer has slammed the founder of defunct Capital Bank, William Ato Essien, for his recent media appearance where he claimed innocence in the collapse of his bank.

Speaking on The Big Issue on Citi FM/TV, Mr. Mercer said the whole interview on Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana was a performance.

“I think this really was a charade… when people do the wrong things, they can’t come and sit on national TV and pretend to be angels.”

The MP recounted reports of suspected fraud and financial malfeasance that emerged after Capital Bank’s collapse in August 2017.

A BoG report noted that the then-Capital Bank CEO, Rev. Fitzgerald Odonkor may have had is signature forged in the authorisation of certain deals related to the GHc610 million liquidity support to the bank.

The management of the Bank, with the approval of the Board Chair, diverted some of the BoG support or other uses. Some of that money was presented as capital to set up another collapsed bank, Sovereign Bank.

Among the flagged transactions were GHc 27.5 million used for business promotion and handled by a board member; transfers to IFS amounting to GHc 23.9 million, transfers to Nordea Capital amounting to GHc 65 million, and transfers to Alltime Capital amounting to GHc 130 million.

Mr. Mercer also referenced the memo by CEO of the Bank at the time, John Kofi Mensah that emerged following teh collapse indicating that Capital Bank was aware of its capitalisation issues.

 

The Attorney General earlier in September announced that 50 directors and owners of seven collapsed banks will soon be prosecuted and Mr. Mercer said he “cannot wait for prosecutions to commence.”

“People are going to be held accountable for the acts that they did in the banking sector,” he declared.

Also on The Big Issue, Sydney Casely-Hayford, a member of OccupyGhana, said he was offended by Ato Essien’s interview saying “I think that we have reached a new low with these types of entrepreneurs.”

“Ato Essien told very few truths in that interview… For those of us could appreciate what he was putting out there, I have never felt so insulted in my time.”

Capital Bank was found to be owing GHc468 million, which was said to have arisen due to negligence from the Board.

A lawsuit by the Receiver of the bank demanded that Mr. Essien pay back over GHc468 million in shareholder loans and some GHc108 million that was granted to him and his other companies.

-Citi

ABOUT: Nana Kwesi Coomson

[email protected]

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.

View all posts by: Nana Kwesi Coomson  

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ABOUT 233TIMES

233times is a Ghanaian media house which serves as a major source of exclusive interviews ,music and video downloads, news and more.

233times reports on major events,news covering entertainment, politics, sports, business, technology, etc from within Ghana, Africa and beyond.

We have a platform for the amateur artistes to portray their staggering talents ...more...

CONTACT US

For further enquiries, please contact us via our contact us page link: CONTACT

WE ON SOCIAL MEDIA. FOLLOW US


To advertise with us or make enquiries, please visit 233times.net/advertise or call Selorm (Selorm) | Selorm (Nana Kwesi)