Capital Bank case: Court rules on Receiver’s application Feb. 2020

The Commercial High Court Two (2) presided over by Justice George Koomson, has set 25 February 2020 for its judgement in the Capital Bank case in which the state is seeking to recover from the former shareholders and directors of the bank, a sum of seven hundred and forty-eight million, two hundred and fifty-one thousand Ghana cedis (GHS 748,251,000.00) they advanced to themselves as loans but have not paid back as of the 14th of August 2017, when the bank was placed in receivership.

The case is titled: “Capital Bank Ghana Limited (In Receivership) suing per Messrs Vish Ashiagbor and Eric Nipah verses William Ato Essien, Dr. Mensa Otabil and fourteen others”.

The receivers of the bank instituted the action against the ten (10) shareholders and six (6) directors of the defunct Capital Bank on the 2nd of November 2018.

According to the statement of claim, the shareholders and directors of the then-Capital Bank approved payments of various sums of money to themselves in breach of banking regulations and without regard to the Bank of Ghana guidelines.

“The plaintiff says that the defendants knew or ought to have known about the breaches of Ghanaian banking regulations and company law being committed at the bank”, the statement of claim stated.

“The plaintiff says that the defendants were engaged in a scheme of fraud on its customers, regulators and the public”, the statement of claim further added.

In all, the Receivers of Capital Bank are seeking fourteen (14) reliefs from the bank. Reliefs one and two states as follows: “A declaration that the Defendants are in breach of their fiduciary duties to the Plaintiff under the Companies Code, 1963 (Act 179)” and “an order directed at the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th Defendants jointly and severally for the payment of compensatory damages to the Plaintiff”.

Reliefs three (3) to twelve (12) essentially seek an order directed at all the defendants who allegedly took loans and have not paid back to do so. Relief thirteen (13) is for cost and fourteen (14) is for “any other relief(s) as may seem fit to the Honourable Court”.