The founder of the now-defunct Capital Bank, Willaim Ato Essien, has been requested to be jailed by the Attorney General (A-G), who has filed a case with the High Court in Accra.
In order to avoid going to prison after being found guilty of stealing more than GH90 million from depositors' funds, Essien was required to pay the state GH60 million in restitution by April 28, 2023, but he only paid GH20 million of that amount by that date. This failure led to the A-G's petition.
In a motion submitted today (May 2, 2023) and signed by the Chief State Attorney Evelyn Keelson, it was claimed that Essien had not yet made the GH20 million payment as of last Friday, April 28, 2023, according to checks made by the A-G at the Controller and Accountant-General Department.
Essien's failure to pay the money, according to the A-G, violated the High Court's instructions on December 13 of the previous year.
The request alleged that the respondent is subject to a prison sentence by the court because he has failed to comply with a condition imposed on him by this court under Section 35 of the Courts Act.
Agreement
Essien entered a guilty plea to 16 charges of theft and money laundering on December 13 of last year, and the court, presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, found him guilty based on his own admission.
But after the court approved a plea bargain between the defendant and the prosecution for, among other things, Essien is expected to pay the GH90 million.
The arrangement was made in accordance with Section 35 of the Courts Act, 1993 (Act 459), which permits defendants facing trial for causing the state financial loss to pay the money and maybe avoid serving time in prison.
According to the contract, Essien would pay the state the remaining GH90 million (of which he has already paid GH30 million) in three installments of GH20 million by the end of December 2023.
If Essien fails to make the agreed-upon payments of money, he runs the possibility of going to jail.
The court mandated that he make the first payment by April 28, 2023, and the second by August 31, 2023; the last payment is due no later than December 15, 2023.
In that case, Justice Kyei Baffour said, "The prosecution shall cause the convict's immediate arrest and produce him before the court as soon as practicable for a custodial sentence to be passed on him in accordance with law."
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