The noose is gradually but firmly tightening around the neck of Directors of ECOBANK GHANA LIMITED and EDC STOCKBROKERAGE LIMITED(EDC) for flouting court orders to transfer shares of former Ghanaian Ambassador to China Afare Donkor to Databank which has culminated in their being cited for contempt.
By a High Court ruling given by Justice Amoako Asante on July 12, 2011, Directors of ECOBANK GHANA LIMITED and EDC were to give the shares back to the owner, Ambassador Afare Donkor but all attempts by the Plaintiff to enforce the Court order have been met with stiff resistance from the bank.
The High Court ordered the bank to transfer the applicant’s CAL Bank shares which was used as collateral in an aborted transaction latest by July 29, 2011 but the Bank did not comply.
Not only are they (Directors of ECOBANK GHANA LIMITED and EDC STOCKBROKERAGE LIMITED) being cited for contempt but they have also been found guilty of engaging in fraudulent activity and forging bank documents.
To make matters worse and to display gross insubordination, a security personnel of the banking institution last Friday, brazenly removed court papers posted on the building of ECOBANK DEVELOPMENT COPERATION and tore part into pieces.
The roaming and probing lenses of The New Crusading Guide witnessed the abominable act.
A court bailiff had gone to the premises of EDC on the orders of Rexford Gyimah, a Court Registrar to post a Court Order For Substituted Service of a MOTION ON NOTICE FOR COMMITAL FOR CONTEMPT.
According to the Order For Substituted Service, the Bailiff was mandated by the Court to post the Order document on “the premises of the defendant/respondents”, and the notice board of the Court “where it shall remain for 10 days”.
The facts of the case between Ambassador Afare Donkor (Plaintiff) and Directors of ECOBANK GHANA LIMITED and EDC STOCKBROKERAGE LIMITED (Defendants) according to Court documents in possession of The New Crusading GUIDE, are that the Plaintiff somewhere in May 2008, used his CAL Bank shares of 18,120,000 as collateral to support one Oppong Bio, an Accra based Businessman to secure a loan facility from the defendants.
“In furtherance of the instruction, the Plaintiff (Afare Donkor) deposited his share certificate with the bank”, stated the court documents.
Per a directive dated 30th May, 2008 from the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Stock Exchange, the transaction was put on hold.
“The Plaintiff contended that after the failure of the transaction no loan was disbursed and no share sale went on as a result of the directive, he therefore demanded a return and release of his shares to him but the 1st defendant hereinafter called the stockbrokerage, a stockbrokerage firm that held the shares on behalf of the bank, failed and refused to release the shares to him” stated Justice Edward A Asante, a High Court Judge in his ruling on the case on July,12, 2011.
The Judge, after listening to both parties further stated “It has been found as a fact earlier in this judgment that Mr Oppong Bio cancelled his loan account with the bank when the share sale transaction was cancelled. At this point, the question to ask is, if the loan was cancelled, what was the withheld security securing?”
“I therefore declare the bank’s continued hold over the plaintiff’s shares unlawful”, the Judge ruled.
Touching on the allegation of forgery the Plaintiff made against the bank, Justice Asante stated: IN MY VIEW, THE DOCUMENTS TENDERED BY THE PLAINTIFF LENDS CREDENCE TO HIS ASSERTION THAT THE BANK FRAUDULENTLY DOCTORED MR. OPPONG BIO’S ACCOUNT TO DECEIVE THE COURT THAT THE ACCOUNT WAS NOT CLOSED AND THAT IT WAS STILL BEING OPERATED IN DECEMBER 2008. I AM SATISFIED THAT THE PLAINTIFF HAS SUCCESSFULLY ESTABLISHED HIS CONTENTION THAT THE BANK FRAUDULENTLY DOCTORED MR. OPPONG BOI’S LOAN ACCOUNT”.
“Taking into consideration the fact that the Plaintiff was forced by the defendants’ unlawfulness to contract loans and go through a lot of stress and hardship to repay a loan when he had money unlawfully locked up with the defendants, I award the Plaintiff general damages in the sum of Ghc 150,000.00 jointly and severally against the defendants,” the Judge stated further.
Counsel for the Plaintiff will tomorrow Tuesday move the court to commit the defendants for contempt.
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