Ato Essien gets another lifeline

The High Court in Accra has given another lifeline to the convicted Founder of the Capital Bank, William Ato Essien, by extending the payment of GH¢20 million restitution to the state to July 27, this year.

The GH¢ 20 million represents the first tranche of a total of GH¢60 million expected to be paid to the state.

The court, presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, yesterday decided to adjourn the case again to enable Essien, who has paid only GH¢8 million so far, to settle the outstanding GH¢12 million.

“Based on the pleas of his counsel, I once again reluctantly give the convict one more opportunity to make payment.

“If by that date, that money has been redeemed, the court may favourably consider the outstanding amount to be paid,” the presiding judge said. 

Conviction

Essien, who was convicted for stealing over GH¢90 million of Bank of Ghana’s liquidity support to the Capital Bank, was supposed to have paid GH¢20 million of the GH¢60 million restitution by April 28 this year and pay the rest by the end of December this year.

Failure to pay the amount per the agreed terms will lead to the court jailing Essien.

By the April 28 deadline, Essien had only paid GH¢8 million, instead of the GH¢20 million he was supposed to give to the state. 

Proceedings

In court  yesterday, Essien’s lawyer, Baffour Gyau Bonsu Ashia, told the court that Essien and Swiss International Holdings had entered into an agreement to dispose of some of his client’s property in a bid to pay back the money.

He added that his client was expecting an amount of $300,000 by end of July 2023.

Mr Ashia further noted that the money could be easily retrieved if Essien’s passport was released to him to bring funds from outside the jurisdiction to help pay back the money, praying for an extra three months lifeline.

But that was turned down by the presiding judge on the grounds that Essien’s current agreement with the state emanated from a criminal trial adding that he did not have the liberty to release the passport.

He further urged Essien not to regard the adjournment as freedom adding: “It’s just a little space for you to mobilise the funds by July 27”.

Agreement

On December 13, last year, Essien pleaded guilty to 16 counts of stealing and money laundering and was accordingly convicted of stealing and dissipating over GH¢90 million of liquidity support given to the Capital Bank by the Bank of Ghana (BoG).

However, the convict avoided a custodial sentence after the court accepted an agreement between him and the Attorney-General (A-G) for him (Essien) to pay the GH¢90 million as restitution to the state.

The agreement was pursuant to Section 35 of the Courts Act, 1993 (Act 459), which allows accused persons standing trial for causing financial loss to the state to pay the money and possibly avoid a custodial sentence.

Essien paid GH¢30 million of the amount and per the agreement as adopted by the court, was ordered to pay the remaining GH¢60 million in three instalments with the first instalment on or before April 28, 2023, the second on or before August 31, 2023, and the last instalment on or before December 15, 2023.

In conformity with Section 35(7) of Act 459, Justice Kyei Baffour ruled that Essien would be imprisoned if he missed any of the payment schedules.

The convict missed the April 28, deadline, a situation that necessitated the A-G to file a motion urging the court to jail him.

On May 11, this year, Justice Kyei Baffour, dismissed an application by Essien asking the court to allow him to renegotiate the terms of the GH¢60 million restitution to the state, as well as for the court to suspend any action that could result in his imprisonment.