A former Deputy Minister of Finance, Kweku George Ricketts-Hagan, has asserted that the case of William Ato Essien, the founder of the defunct Capital Bank, clearly illustrates the Central Bank's failure to fulfill its regulatory responsibilities.

Ato Essien was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment with hard labor after being convicted of embezzling over GH¢90 million in Bank of Ghana's liquidity support provided to the now-defunct financial institution. Despite being granted multiple opportunities to reimburse the state, he failed to repay the full amount.

In December 2022, he initially paid GH¢30 million and was required to make a GH¢20 million initial installment of the outstanding GH¢60 million by April 28, 2023. However, he could only manage to pay ¢5 million.

In May, he was granted until July 4 to liquidate his assets and pay the state GH¢55 million, but this deadline passed without any payments being made.

Mr. Ricketts-Hagan, speaking on JoyNews' Newsfile on Saturday, October 14, argued that, due to the inherently self-centered and self-interested nature of human beings, even those with the best intentions may seek to maximize their own gains.

This is precisely why, he contended, central banks and other regulatory bodies exist to oversee such activities. However, the weaknesses in the bank's regulatory system allowed Mr. Ato Essien to evade accountability for his actions.

“It is clear that it is not only the board that failed in its fiduciary responsibility in terms of governance but the Central Bank itself also failed in its supervisory and regulatory responsibilities,” he said.

He expressed surprise that some board members of the bank and officials from the Bank of Ghana have not faced questioning regarding the matter.

On the same program, Sylvester Tetteh, the Member of Parliament for Bortianor-Ngleshie Amanfro, praised the Attorney General for successfully recovering GH¢37 million from Ato Essien. Tetteh, who also serves as the Vice Chairman of Parliament's Communications Committee, commended the AG's office for this achievement, highlighting that it is one of the largest amounts the state has been able to recover from a criminal case under the Fourth Republic.

He emphasized that, if this money had not been retrieved, the convict would have been able to enjoy his gains at the expense of the state upon his release from prison.

Tetteh called on the Attorney General to include the board members who are believed to be implicated. He suggested that unless this is done, the conviction of Ato Essien alone may not serve as a sufficient deterrent to dissuade others from engaging in such illegal activities.

“I think this is good for the country because a lot has been lost in respect of this banking sector clean-up because we had an ailing banking sector and if that hadn't been done, it would have been a catastrophic event.”

“So I think the Attorney General and the investigators have done a good job for the recovery made.”