Court Grants Ato Essien Lifeline To Liquidate His Assets And Pay GH¢55m
An Accra High Court has given the founder of defunct Capital Bank, William Ato Essien, till July 4 to liquidate his assets and settle a balance of GHc55 million to the State.
This comes after Mr Essien, in his affidavit in opposition to the State’s motion to have him committed to prison, indicated steps his company Essien’s Swiss International Company has taken to liquidate some assets with a third-party company to mobilize funds.
He indicated that the first of the funds said to be $300, 000 is expected to be paid by June 30, and others will follow.
Mr Essien risks being jailed after breaching the terms of his payment agreement with the Attorney General.
He was required to pay GH¢20 million out of a GH¢60million restitution to the State by April 28, 2023, but he failed.
In court on Wednesday, May 17, Deputy Attorney General Alfred Tuah Yeboah said Mr Essien has been able to pay ¢5 million so far.
He indicated to the court that per the law, the convict must pay the remaining balance in full at once after flouting the payment agreement.
He, therefore, expects the total outstanding of ¢55 million.
Giving the ruling, the presiding judge, Justice Eric Kyei Baffuor, said, “I want to give you a lifeline, and I hope you will do your possible best. To find the money and pay. If what has been deposed to, is true, I am sure only a matter of time will tell. I am adjourning, hoping that we would have gotten the money to make the payment.
“I have perused through the application and the affidavit in opposition; if I were to allow the learned deputy Attorney General to move the application, I would be compelled to deliver my ruling in respect of the application,” he said.
He added: “Taking notice that the convict has taken steps to liquidate some assets in Essien Swiss International Holdings for which he is the sole shareholder and is expecting huge sums of monies as he has indicated in the affidavit for which he has deposed to. If, indeed, the depositions in the affidavit have been made bona fide, time will vindicate that.
“Accordingly, I will hasten slowly and adjourn the application to July 4, 2023, to enable the convict to redeem the monies outstanding and as agreed per the agreement with the republic,” Justice Eric Kyei Baffuor ruled.
Background
On December 13, 2022, Mr Ato Essien escaped jail after the court had accepted his agreement with the State to pay GH¢90 million under Section 35 of the Courts Act, which allows an accused to plead guilty and be allowed to pay restitution and escape a jail term.
Before the court’s judgement, he had paid GH¢30 million of the GH¢90 million. It was the balance of the GH¢60 million sum that the court ordered him to pay in three instalments, GH¢20 million each, on April 28, August 31, and December 15, 2023.
The court said, should the convict miss any of the deadlines by an hour, he should be brought to the court for a custodial sentence to be imposed.