Capital Bank collapse: Ato Essien, others granted GH¢675 million bail

William Ato Essien and two others standing trial for the collapse of Capital Bank have been granted a GH¢200 million bail each by an Accra High court.

This was when the accused persons appeared in the court on Tuesday.

To secure bail, Ato Essien, Tettey Nettey and Fitzgerald Odonkor have been asked to deposit their passports at the court and provide four sureties each.

A fourth accused person, Kate Quartey Papafio, was also granted bail to a tune of GH¢75 million with four sureties. She is also required to deposit her passport at the court.

In November 2018, the receivers of the collapsed Capital bank, Mr Vish Ashiagbor and Mr Eric Nipah, both of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), instituted a civil action against Essien and 13 shareholders and directors for allegedly engaging in acts that led to the collapse of the bank.

The suit was filed at the Commercial Division of the Accra High Court.

The plaintiffs are seeking to use the legal action to recover over GH¢837 million, being what they said were loans that the shareholders granted to themselves which remained unpaid.

By their alleged actions, the plaintiffs said, the defendants “have breached their fiduciary duties under the Companies Code, 1963 (Act 179) and have caused serious financial loss to the bank".