Government will still retrieve GH¢53 million debt owed by Ato Essien - Deputy A-G

Deputy Attorney-General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, has affirmed that the state's pursuit of the former CEO of the defunct Capital Bank, William Ato Essien, will persist even after he received a 15-year prison sentence.

Tuah-Yeboah stressed that the government is committed to reclaiming the GH¢53 million that Ato Essien still owes the state by seizing his immediate assets.

He clarified that the 15-year sentence with hard labor imposed on Ato Essien on October 12 does not exempt him from meeting his financial obligations to the state.

“The state has been able to retrieve GH¢37 million from the convict and he is also serving fifty years imprisonment maybe if he had not refunded the GH¢37 million, he could have had a higher sentence as far as we are concerned," he stated.

Tuah-Yeboah revealed that the state had entered into a payment agreement with Mr. Essien, with the understanding that he would repay the GH¢60 million he owed. However, Ato Essien defaulted on this agreement by paying only GH¢37 million at the time of his sentencing.

“We entered into this agreement with him under Section 35 with the understanding that he goes by the terms of the agreement and he made some commitments by paying 37 and he couldn’t go through the entire agreement and he had to go and serve the fifteen years," Mr. Tuah-Yeboah stated.

Ato Essien was sentenced on October 12 after failing to fully repay an amount of GH¢90 million, as per the agreement he made with the state. He had pleaded guilty to 16 counts of stealing, money laundering, and conspiracy to steal for his involvement in the collapse of Capital Bank. Despite a plea bargain under section 35(7) of the Courts ACT 459, where he was expected to pay GH¢90 million and had paid GH¢30 million on December 13, he failed to meet the remaining GH¢60 million installment deadlines in 2023.

The state had made it clear that missing any of these payment deadlines would result in a custodial sentence, which was ultimately imposed when Ato Essien was unable to fulfill his financial obligations.

GA/SARA

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