State discontinues case against defunct UT bank boss Kofi Amoabeng

• Posted on February 5, 2020February 5, 2020
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The state has discontinued the case against the founder of now-defunct UT Bank, Prince Kofi Amoabeng at the circuit court.

Kofi Amoabeng was facing charges of stealing and money laundering following the alleged role he played in the collapse of UT bank.

According to the prosecution represented by ASP Emmanuel Nyamekye, they intend to file a fresh case against Mr. Amoabeng at the High Court hence their decision.

The decision means the trial at the circuit court has been brought to an end.

Meanwhile, a similar case which involves Managing Director of defunct Beige Bank, Mike Nyinaku at the same circuit court has been adjourned to March 5, 2020.

Kofi Amoabeng before court

Mr. Amoabeng was put before court in January to face charges of stealing and money laundering in the collapse of UT Bank Ghana Limited.

He was however granted bail by the court presided over by Justice Essandor, to the tune of GH¢110 million with two sureties who earn not less than GH¢2,000.

UT Bank collapse

The Bank of Ghana on August 14, 2017 announced that it had revoked the license of UT Bank and ordered GCB Bank to take over its operation because it had severe capital impairment.

Provisional figures released by the central bank showed the total liability of UT Bank stood at GH¢850 million while its total asset was pegged at GH¢112 million.

The receiver for UT Bank, Eric Nana Nipah of PriceWaterCoopers (PwC) told Citi News in an earlier interview that it had sued UT and related companies to retrieve some GH¢100 million.

“If you take the case of UT Bank, we are suing related companies associated with UT Bank — UT Holdings and we are claiming an amount in excess of GH¢100 million”, Mr. Nipah said.

But speaking on the matter for the first time nearly two years after the BoG’s action, Kofi Amoabeng in a TV interview argued that the fortunes of the bank could have been turned around if the Bank of Ghana had given him more time.

“The government found us in that situation, [but] was this the best route to take? Because we had investors who were ready with some proposals. They [government] decided that the best thing is to close down UT Bank which I find really difficult to take but from where they are sitting, they decided that was the best thing for the country. I don’t bear grudges but the point is if as UT Bank we owed GH¢800 million and an investor comes and says I’m ready to pay GH¢400 million [so] Bank of Ghana should write off the [other] GH¢400 million, but BoG takes a decision to close down the bank which will cost the nation at least GH¢2.2 billion, it doesn’t make sense to me,” he said.

-Citi