The Accra High Court has acquitted and discharged Kate Quartey-Papafio, the Managing Director of Reroy Cables Limited, who was put on trial for allegedly conniving with directors of the defunct Capital Bank to divert state funds pumped into the bank to keep it alive.
The court presided over by Justice Eric Kyei – Baffour upheld a submission of no case by her lawyers.
The court, however, ruled that the prosecution was able to establish a prima facie case against the other three accused persons accused of collapsing the Capital Bank. They include William Ato Essien, Founder of the defunct bank, Fitzgerald Odonkor, the Managing Director of the bank, Tettey Nettey, the Managing Director of MC Management Services, a company said to be owned by Essien.
However, conspicuously absent in the list of people standing trial for allegedly pocketing state funds meant for recapitalising the bank is Pastor Mensah Otabil, the Board Chairman of the Bank and the General Overseer of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC).
Whatsup News has gathered from reliable sources that a lot of meetings that allegedly led to the squandering of depositors funds of Capital Bank was held in the Trasacco Valley Villa of Pastor Otabil.
Prosecutors had accused Ms. Quartey -Papafio, of conniving with Essien, Odonkor and Nettey, in stealing Ghc620million of liquidity support given to the Capital Bank by the Bank of Ghana.
The accused have pleaded not guilty to all the charges of stealing, abetment to stealing, conspiracy to steal and money laundering. She was reportedly given some of the money in which she used in her business ventures.
But the court ruled that no evidence showed that the businesswoman intended or acted in any way to steal money from Capital Bank.
According to the judge, the businesswoman only acted as a trustee for another person who wanted to purchase shares from the bank but had no knowledge that the said money was part of the liquidity support.
Also the court held that the said money (Ghc70million) was still in the custody of the Consolidated Bank and had not been appropriated or stolen by the businesswoman.
“A prima facie case has not been established against her. Rather she acted childish in the deal The law does not punish the fool but the one with evil intention,” the court ruled.
Capital Bank is one of the first banks that collapsed after the Bank of Ghana (BoG) banking sector clean-up in 2017.
By whatsupnews
