Head of Mission for Commonwealth Enterprise & Investments Council, Dr. John Apea has come out to defend the innocence of Mr. Ato Essien in the Capital Bank collapse saga and believes the entrepreneur was wrongfully prosecuted.
Capital Bank (Ghana) was one of the banks that were declared insolvent in 2017, with UT Bank.
The Bank of Ghana, at the time believed taking over the banks and consolidating them was the best move to protect depositors and their investments.
Yet, investigations into the collapse of the bank revealed that funds were misappropriated by the founder of the bank, Ato Essien and some three others.
To this end, Ato Essien was charged and jailed for ‘stealing’ some Gh90m meant for running the Bank.
Stories are out that the founder of Capital Bank, Ato Essien, is fighting for his life due to bad health and some Ghanaians are calling for his release on clemency.
Dr. John Apea, who also serves on the board of the Commonwealth Human Rights Office is one of the people championing for the release of Ato Essien.
According to him, the notion that Ato Essien had stolen money is false. He said;
“Bank of Ghana gave Capital Bank liquidity support at 28% per annum, and until Capital Bank was closed, they were paying without default, Gh14.4m every month until the bank was shut down.
Before the bank was shut down they had repaid Gh308 million out of that liquidity support”, he added.
Dr Apwent on to add that all the noise going around at the time that Ato Essien and others had stolen money was the case and that it was a commercial loan.
He claimed that the involvement of Mr. Ato Essien was a ‘contract he signed with the bank to receive a 3-4 percent Finder’s Fee for the loan he arranged for the Capital Bank’.
“It was not money he had stolen. It was a Finder’s Fee. There were a lot of stories that he had stolen money. Gh27.5 million was the Finder’s Fee that Mr. Ato Essien legally earned from this transaction where he organised for a loan to be paid for Capital Bank” said Dr. Apea.
Speaking at a press briefing recently in Accra, Dr. Apea added that:
“The 3rd accused in the case who was acquitted, the MD of the bank was charged with paying Ato Essien that Gh27.5 million”.
Dr. Apea questioned the logic behind that,
“How is someone acquitted for paying 27.5 million but Ato Essien is jailed? I don’t know why this happened but equations must balance. What happens on the left must happen on the right”.
Dr. Apea added that Mr. Ato Essien was ‘charged jointly and severally with three other people. All these other people were acquitted including the 3rd accused who paid the said Gh27.5 million’.
However, “He is the only one languishing in prison, and he is currently in a wheelchair and is in a very bad health,” said Dr. Apea.
Dr. Apea has hinted that a team is preparing a petition to the President and they will go as far as seeing Mr. Ato Essien released and back in good health with his family again.
