Owners of collapsed financial institutions bought foreign homes - Eric Nipah

The Receiver of the collapsed financial institutions in Ghana, Eric Nana Nipah says owners of the defunct institutions bought homes and properties outside the country with monies of depositors.

In an interview with Peace FM, the Receiver said his outfit and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has thoroughly investigated and traced to find out most of the owners abuse the funds.

“Some of the owners of these financial institutions used monies from the companies to purchase properties in their names.”

He added that EOCO has also frozen a lot of bank accounts and properties. He noted that for some of these owners when depositors made payments, they transfer the monies to their personal or private accounts.

Mr. Nipah assured the public that they have “clear and solid evidence” to prosecute most of these bank owners. “EOCO has painstakingly gathered a lot of information and people will definitely be prosecuted”.

The Receiver on Monday, July 13, 2020, announced that ex-staff of defunct microfinance companies will begin to receive their claims.

A statement from the Receiver, Eric Nana Nipah of PricewaterhouseCoopers said tracing the assets of the defunct companies have been difficult due to asset diversion among others.

“The consequence in pursuing this recovery route is that creditor claims including employee-related claims in the resolution of the affected MFCs and S&Ls are not likely to be settled any time soon,” he said.