The motion for a stay of proceedings by William Ato Essien, the founder of the defunct Capital Bank, was denied by the Accra High Court awaiting the outcome of an appeal against one of its findings.
The Court, presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, a Court of Appeal Judge serving as an extra High Court Judge, found that granting a stay was a discretionary exercise and that the petitioner had not proven any special circumstances.
Mr Essien, Rev. Fitsgerald Odonkor, the Bank's then-Managing Director, and Tettey Nettey of MC Management Services are on trial for the GHS620 million in liquidity support granted by the Bank of Ghana to Capital Bank.
Examining the nature of the application, as well as the deposition in support of it, he remarked.
Any serious court would only be left with one conclusion based on the application and the attachment: the application is frivolous.
He said that there was nothing in the exhibits permitted as evidence that violated the accused's rights, and that the assertion that the appeal addressed a substantial debatable matter of law could not be true. "I reject the application because it lacks merit," he stated.
The motion was submitted on June 9, 2022, against the Court's own judgment, according to Mr Baffuor Gyau Bonsu Ashia, Counsel for Mr Essien.
He stated that they had attached two documents to the motion, one of which was the Court's judgement and the other was the notice of appeal, which was labelled exhibit B.
According to the Counsel, a perusal of the notice of appeal would reveal that they had presented substantial legal questions for the Court of Appeal to decide.
The admittance of the pen drive, which had the audit recordings of the encounter between the special investigations team and the accused individual, he added, was one of the unusual circumstances being demonstrated.
Mr. Ashia requested that the Court give them a stay of the court's own decision.
Mrs Marina Appiah-Opare, the Chief State Attorney, stated that they were opposed to the request because no extraordinary circumstances had been presented that would necessitate a stay.
Meanwhile, Rev. Odonkor's cross-examination continues. The case has been rescheduled until June 23, 2022.