A former Deputy Minister of Finance, Kweku George Ricketts-Hagan says the Founder of the defunct Capital Bank, William Ato Essien’s case clearly shows that the Central Bank failed in its regulatory responsibilities.
Ato Essien was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labour after he was convicted of stealing over GH¢90 million of Bank of Ghana’s liquidity support advanced to the now-defunct financial institution.
Although he was given several lifelines to refund the money to the state he failed to pay the full amount.
He earlier paid GH¢30 million upfront in December 2022 and was required to pay GH¢20 million as the first installment of the GH¢60 million outstanding amount by April 28, 2023.
But he was only able to pay ¢5 million. In May, he was given until July 4, to liquidate his assets and pay the state GH¢55 million. This deadline elapsed without any payments made.
The state then submitted a request to the court, seeking a custodial sentence in line with the agreed terms.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, October 14, Mr Ricketts-Hagan stated that even those with the best of intentions will attempt to maximize their own gains due to the self-centered and selfish nature of human nature.
It is for this reason he said, the central bank and other regulatory bodies are there to oversee such activities.
However, the weakness of the bank’s regulatory system made way for Mr Ato Essien to get away with the act.
“It is clear that it is not only the board that failed in its fiduciary responsibility in terms of governance but the Central Bank itself also failed in its supervisory and regulatory responsibilities,” he said.
According to him, it is surprising that some board members of the bank as well as officials from the Bank of Ghana are not being questioned on the matter.
Speaking on the same show, the Bortianor-Ngleshie Amanfro MP, Sylvester Tetteh, commended the Attorney General for being able to recover GH¢37 million from Ato Essien.
The lawmaker, who is also the Vice Chairman of Parliament’s Communications Committee said the AG’s office ought to be commended as this is one of biggest amounts the state has been able to recover from a criminal case under the Fourth Republic.
According to him, had this money not been recovered, the convict would have returned from prison and enjoyed his booty at the expense of the state.
He also asked the AG to rope in the board members who are believed to be culpable.
He suggested that until that is done, the conviction of Ato Essien alone may not be deterrent enough to deters others from engaging in such an illegality.
“I think this is good for the country because a lot has been lost in respect of this banking sector clean-up because we had an ailing banking sector and if that hadn’t been done, it would have been a catastrophic event.”
“So I think the Attorney General and the investigators have done a good job for the recovery made.”
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