Supreme Court orders sale of Woyome’s assets

Three years of legal joggling over the true ownership of properties in the case involving the businessman, Mr Alfred Agbesi Woyome, was settled on Thursday when the Supreme Court ordered the sale of the assets to defray the GH¢47.2 million debt he owes the state.

Assets to be sold include two mansions at Trassaco Estate, a house at Kpehe where he resides, an office complex of Anator Holdings, residential building at Abelemkpe and a stone quarry in the Eastern Region including its plants and equipment.

The court, with Mr Justice A. A. Bennin as the sole judge, held that the properties belonged to Woyome and that the claim by UT Bank that the businessman sold two houses at Trassaco Estate to the bank to defray his debt was a sham.

Again, the apex court held that Woyome’s quarry was not used as collateral, as he and the bank claimed.

Costs of GH¢60,000 was awarded against UT Bank and Woyome.

Mr Woyome refunded GH¢4 million in November 2016 and promised to pay the outstanding balance by quarterly instalments of GH¢5 million, commencing April 1, 2017, but he failed to fulfil the pledge.

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• Woyome case: A-G, Anator Holdings haggle over ownership of quarry

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Value of property

A Deputy Attorney-General, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, told journalists after the court ruling that the value to be realised from the sale of the assets was GH¢20 million.

He also disclosed plans by the state to auction the properties.

“We will latest, by Monday, file an application for reserved price to pave the way for the auction of the assets,” he said

The decision

The Presiding Judge held that evidence adduced by the state in court showed there had been no sale of property to UT Bank.

He said there was a clear collusion between the bank and Woyome to create the impression that the properties in dispute were for Woyome and later reverted to the bank for the repayment of a loan.

“I declare the sale as a sham,” Mr Justice Bennin said in the ruling.

Findings

The court said it found that the same property had been used for a loan a year later after it was alleged to have been sold.

It also found that the Trassaco properties were neither sold nor used as collateral.

The court also held that a purported mortgage of the Abelemkpe house to Woyome’s brother was not registered as required by law and therefore invalid.

Accordingly, it dismissed UT Bank’s claims, ordered for the sale of the residential properties at Trasacco Estate and further moved to order that the quarry being claimed by Anator Holdings was Woyome’s asset.

Besides, the court held that there was no transfer of shares in Anator Holdings in accordance with the rules set out in the Companies Act, 1963 (Act 179).

Criminal action

Mr Dame said the ruling was a clear indication that one could not dupe the state and use all manner of tactics to delay justice.

He said the court’s decision that Woyome colluded with the bank in a bid to mislead the court and the state was enough grounds for the state to consider instituting criminal action against the actors.

According to the Deputy Attorney-General, a valuation conducted last year on the two residential properties at Trassaco valued each house between $1.2 million and  $1.5 million, while his private residence also had a similar value.

He said the value placed on other properties belonging to the businessman would all amount to GH¢20 million.

He further hinted that the state had discovered more assets — two at East Legon — and was in the process of filing the necessary court documents to claim them.

Ownership dispute

The UT Bank, in April 2016, claimed ownership of the two properties at Trasacco in Accra when the State attempted to sell them to defray Mr Woyome’s debt.

Anator Holdings, on the other hand, claimed that it owned the quarry which the State said belonged to Mr Woyome.

The UT Bank, substituted by its receivers, and Anator Holdings filed different processes, seeking an order of the court to stop the Attorney-General from including the two residential buildings and the quarry in the list of the businessman’s properties which the State intended to sell.

Background

The Supreme Court, on July 29, 2014, ordered Mr Woyome to refund GH¢51.2 million to the State on the grounds that he had got the money out of unconstitutional and invalid contracts between the State and Waterville Holdings Limited in 2006 for the construction of stadia for  the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, which Ghana hosted.

The court held that the contracts upon which Mr Woyome made and received the claim were in contravention of Article 181 (5) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which required such contracts to be laid before and approved by Parliament.

On March 1, 2016, Mr Woyome prayed the court to give him three years to pay back the money but the court declined to grant his wish.

Refund

He, however, refunded GH¢4 million in November 2016 and promised to pay the outstanding balance in quarterly instalments of GH¢5 million, commencing April 1, 2017.

That did not materialise after the businessman had initiated a litany of legal cases at the Supreme Court to support his case, which were all dismissed.

In addition to fighting his cases in the country, Mr Woyome sought relief from the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), based in Paris, France, and the African Court of Justice, based in Arusha, Tanzania.

In August 2017, the ICC threw out his case, on the basis that he had failed to properly invoke its jurisdiction.

His case at the African Court of Justice was expected to be determined yesterday.