William Ato Essien
Recent
information stumbled upon by DAILY GUIDE shows how William Ato
Essien, founder of the defunct Capital Bank,
allegedly took GH¢70 million from the bank, leading to its collapse.
Ato Essien, who is facing 26 charges along with three others for
stealing and misappropriating GH¢262
million from the defunct Capital Bank, had earlier gone to the media ahead of
his arraignment to create the impression that he was being made a victim.
In recent
television appearances where he absolved himself of any wrongdoing, he said his
association with any wrongdoing was politically motivated.
Ato Essien
even said no adverse findings were made against him when the Economic and
Organised Crime Office (EOCO) investigated his alleged misconduct at the failed
Capital Bank.
Among the
charges slapped on the failed bank director is a charge of conspiring to steal
and stealing GH¢70 million from the bank between June and August 2017.
He is said to
have connived with Kate Quartey-Papafio of Reroy Cables to steal the GH¢70 million.
However,
information available to DAILY GUIDE indicates that Ato Essien
allegedly approached Kate Quartey-Papafio to pick shares in Capital Bank at the
time the books of the bank were red and needed capital injection.
She was said
to have shown interest in buying equity in the struggling bank but had no cash,
so she promised to use fixed assets as equity, to which the Bank of Ghana objected.
Ato Essien, whose
modus operandi is conscripting high-profile individuals to his numerous finance
houses to gain credibility, decided to create an account for Ms. Quartey-Papafio
at Capital Bank and paid the GH¢70 million into it to buy shares in the bank.
But before the
money landed in Kate’s account at Capital Bank, where she actually had no account,
the GH¢70 million had made a quick dash into the account of another customer of
the bank, from where the money was returned to Capital Bank.
According to
EOCO sources which investigated the stealing and money laundering case, the GH¢70
million travelled in three banks within one day, violating bank regulations.
The money was said to be part of the GH¢620 million bailout from BoG to the
distressed bank.
Unfortunately,
the transaction took place at the time BoG was on the verge of stepping in by
revoking Capital Bank’s operating licence which made it difficult to clean the
books. The money was subsequently returned to GCB Bank by EOCO after the
investigation.
Ato Essien was
charged on Tuesday along with Rev. Fitzgerald Odonkor, Managing Director of the
defunct Capital Bank; Tetteh Nettey, a director, and Kate Quartey-Papafio for conspiracy
to steal from the bank.
Together, the
four are facing a total of 26 counts of conspiracy to steal, stealing, money
laundering, among others.
A copy of the
charge sheet filed at an Accra High Court indicates that Ato Essien and Tetteh
Nettey, between October and November 2015, agreed to act together with a common
purpose to steal GH¢100 million from the defunct bank.
The two, with
the help of Fitzgerald Odonkor, succeeded in stealing and misappropriating
GH¢100 million belonging to the bank.
Ato Essien and Tetteh Nettey are
alleged to have also stolen — between
the same period — GH¢30 million from
the bank.
According to
the charge sheet, the two, again in January 2016, stole and laundered an amount
of GH¢35 million from the bank.
The charges
against Essien and Nettey also state that the two, in June 2015, stole another
GH¢2 million from the defunct bank orchestrated by Fitzgerald Odonkor.
More coming.
By Fortune Alimi
The post How Ato Essien Was Charged With Stealing GH¢70m appeared first on DailyGuide Network.
