Why Ato Essien was jailed 15 years for stealing

In the last 24 hours, the former Chief Executive Officer of the defunct Capital Bank, William Ato Essien, was handed a 15-year jail term for stealing.

According to the reports that emerged from the Accra High Court that handed down the sentence, the conviction was led by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour.

It has been a well-known fact that Ato Essien was standing trial on charges of stealing over GH¢90 million belonging to Capital Bank and was convicted in December 2022.

He, however, was not sentenced then, and this is why.

William Ato Essien avoided the custodial sentence of December 2022 after the court accepted an agreement between him and the Attorney General that he (Essien) would pay the GH¢90 million as restitution to the state.

But in a ruling on Thursday, October 12, the court disclosed that the former Capital Bank CEO failed to live up to his full side of the bargain.

The agreement was pursuant to Section 35 of the Courts Act, 1993 (Act 459), which allows accused persons standing trial for causing financial loss to the state to pay the money and possibly avoid a custodial sentence.

Reports indicated that on December 1, 2022, Ato Essien paid GH¢30 million of the amount and was ordered by the court to pay the remaining GH¢60 million in three instalments with the first instalment on or before April 28, 2023, the second on or before August 31, 2023, and the last instalment on or before December 15, 2023.

But in court on Thursday, October 12, Justice Kyei Baffour said that only GH¢7 million out of a possible GH¢40 million was settled.

He added that William Ato Essien also missed the deadlines for April 28 and August 31, 2023, bringing the total amount paid so far to GH¢37 million.

Meanwhile, he was supposed to pay a total of GH¢90 million, the report added.

It was, therefore, based on the fact that Ato Essien failed to pay up the money he stole, as agreed together with the AG and the court, that forced the judge to hand down the sentence to him.

Meanwhile, should the former CEO still be able to pay the money, he wouldn’t have to serve the full sentence of 15 years.

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