Deputy AG affirms that the state actively will seek the recovery of GH¢53m debt from Ato Essien

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

Tuah-Yeboah emphasized that the state intends to seize Ato Essien’s current assets to recover a portion of the GH¢53 million he still owes the state.

He clarified that the 15-year prison sentence with hard labor handed to Ato Essien does not exempt him from fulfilling his financial obligations to the state. Tuah-Yeboah made this statement during an interview on Eyewitness News.

He further disclosed that the state had initially entered into a payment agreement with Ato Essien, with the understanding that he would repay the GH¢60 million debt he owed.

Unfortunately, Ato Essien defaulted on this agreement by paying only GH¢37 million at the time of his sentencing.

“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 but as far as we are concerned.”

“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.”

Ato Essien was sentenced on October 12 after failing to fully repay an amount of GH¢90 million, despite multiple extensions provided since December 2022.

He had pleaded guilty to 16 counts of stealing, money laundering, and conspiracy to steal in connection with the collapse of Capital Bank and subsequently entered into a plea bargain with the state under section 35(7) of the courts ACT 459.

The agreement stipulated that he would pay GH¢90 million, with an initial payment of GH¢30 million and the remaining GH¢60 million divided into three equal installments in 2023, due by April 28, August 31, and December 15, 2023.

Failure to meet these payment deadlines would result in a custodial sentence, which ultimately occurred when Ato Essien did not pay the remainder of the debt.