The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has begun investigations into the banking and financial sector crisis, which led to the collapse of some banks and other financial institutions.
In a statement dated 25 January 2022, the OSP said the investigations would be targeted at alleged corruption and corruption-related offences perpetrated by officials of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), banks, specialised deposit-taking institutions, and financial holding companies.
It warned that any official found guilty and complicit would be arrested and prosecuted.
Therefore, the office has extended a hand of invitation to the public who may have knowledge of corruption or corruption-related offences to lodge complaints with the OSP against the said official.
It assured that informers, whistleblowers, and witnesses would be protected.
The story behind the financial sector crisis
The Bank of Ghana (BoG), sometime in 2017, embarked on a comprehensive reform plan to strengthen the regulatory and supervisory framework for a more resilient banking sector.
In the biggest reform in banking history in Ghana, the central bank revoked the licenses of nine universal banks. Prominent among them were UT Bank, Unibank, Capital Bank, and Beige Bank.
347 micro-finance companies also had their operational licenses revoked. 155 of these had already ceased operations. Some 39 microcredit companies or money lenders, 15 savings and loans companies, eight finance house companies, and two non-bank financial institutions were also closed.
The banks were declared insolvent, with their CEOs, Directors, and Managers cited for misappropriating company funds.
A report by the Bank of Ghana into the collapse of UT and Capital banks revealed that several high-profile directors of the banks used a carefully spun web of related party transactions to grant huge loans to themselves and their associates.
Some former directors of the defunct banks were dragged to court over the matter.
Founder of the defunct Capital Bank, William Ato Essien, and two others have been slapped with 26 charges for their roles, leading to the financial institution’s collapse.
The two include Tetteh Nettey and Fitzgerald Odonkor – who all served as executives of the bank.
They were charged with conspiracy to steal contrary to sections 23 (1) and 124 (1) of the criminal offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). The case is still pending at an Accra High Court.
Founder of UT, Prince Kofi Amoabeng, and CEO of defunct Beige Bank, Mike Nyinaku, was also dragged to court by the state for their various roles, which led to the collapse of the financial institutions.
The crisis saw the deposits of some 1.5 million Ghanaians affected though the government stepped in to safeguard their monies.
So far, the clean-up has cost the government 21 billion cedis.