Ato Essien, the former Chief Executive Officer of the now-defunct Capital Bank, has been handed a 15-year prison sentence with hard labour for failing to meet his financial obligations to the state.
The ruling comes after Essien could not fulfill his commitment to pay GH¢90 million in debt, as agreed upon with the state, despite multiple opportunities given to him.
The story began in December 2022 when Ato Essien found himself facing legal trouble. In an attempt to avoid a custodial sentence, he had reached a deal with the state under section 35 of the Courts Act.
This deal mandated him to pay GH¢90 million by the end of 2023. He initially paid GH¢30 million in December 2022 and was set to pay the remaining GH¢60 million in three equal installments in 2023.
The first installment of GH¢20 million was due by the end of April 2023. However, Ato Essien only managed to pay GH¢6 million by the deadline, leaving a significant debt unpaid. The state, adhering to the terms of the agreement, applied to a custodial sentence to be imposed.
Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, the presiding judge, delayed the hearing of the application following a request from Ato Essien’s legal team. They claimed that agreements had been reached with a company for the liquidation of some of Essien’s properties to pay off the debt.
Still, it later came to light that Ato Essien had only made an additional payment of GH¢2 million. This left him with a total payment of GH¢8 million out of the required GH¢20 million.
As a result, Ato Essien had only managed to pay a total of GH¢38 million out of the GH¢90 million debt, leaving a massive outstanding debt of GH¢52 million.
With his inability to adhere to the payment schedule and fulfill his financial obligations, the court made the difficult decision to sentence him to 15 years in prison with hard labour.