The founder and former Managing Director of defunct Capital Bank, William Ato Essien, has been granted a ¢10 million bail with two sureties pending the appeal of his 15-year prison term for causing financial loss to the state.
The bail conditions also come with an order for Essien to deposit his passport with the court and report to the registrar once a month.
Essien was accused of misappropriating GH₵620 million in liquidity support extended to the bank by the central bank. Investigations revealed that portions of the funds were used for personal gain and to set up other businesses rather than shoring up the bank’s operations. He was charged with theft, money laundering, and conspiracy to steal, alongside other executives of the bank.
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In a landmark ruling in December 2022, Essien entered into a plea bargain with the state. Under the agreement, he was convicted but avoided a custodial sentence on the condition that he paid GH₵90 million in restitution and reparations. He was expected to pay GH₵30 million upfront and the remaining amount in scheduled tranches.
Essien’s legal troubles resurfaced when it emerged that he had failed to meet the payment schedule outlined in the court settlement. The Attorney General subsequently triggered proceedings to imprison him in October 2023 for 15 years, citing non-compliance.
Before his sentence, he had tried to pay back the amount in restitution in a plea deal with the Attorney-General. However, he was unable to meet the terms of the deal.
His lawyers had filed a series of applications to have their client pardoned on the grounds of ill health and medical emergency. The Court of Appeal subsequently delivered the verdict today, Wednesday, July 30, after the court had earlier squashed a similar application in the past.
Today’s decision sets a tone, considering that there have been various calls to get Ato Essien pardoned.
Sources close to his legal team, as well as concerned observers, had highlighted that the embattled businessman is battling a chronic medical condition that requires consistent treatment and monitoring. His confinement, they argue, not only threatens his life but also undermines his capacity to meet his financial obligations in the long term.
Several voices, from the clergy to legal practitioners, called on the state to temper justice with mercy and offer him bail under strict conditions.
Compounding the debate around the call to pardon Ato Essien is the state’s recent decision to file a nolle prosequi in the criminal case involving Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, the founder of Unibank, another institution that collapsed in the infamous financial sector clean-up.
Like Essien, Dr. Duffuor faced charges related to the misuse of liquidity support funds. Like Duffour, he too pledged to pay back a portion of the misused funds.