The Receiver for the defunct 347 Microfinance Companies and 23 Savings and Loans Companies and Finance Houses, Eric Nana Nipah, has disclosed that the government will in August this year, commence prosecutions aside paying the funds of depositors.
While speaking on the issue, Mr. Nipah also assured a hundred per cent payment of depositor claims by end of July, saying that about 96 per cent of all validated depositor claims which stands at 5.4 billion Cedis has been settled.
According to the receiver, with the help of the Economic and Organized Crime Office, EOCO, assets worth about GH¢ 500 million Cedis have been recovered, adding that the work towards the prosecution from August has been carried out in the last one year.
“We will also insist on rendering of stewardship not only to demand accountability but to ensure that due course is given to some situations. We have not relented and that is where EOCO comes in. We have been working with EOCO on potential recoveries and prosecutions for close to a year now. EOCO has done extensive work on investigations and we are at the point that as I speak, dockets are being prepared to be passed on to the AG’s department for prosecution beginning August this year”.
The need for a clean-up in the financial sector commenced in August 2017, leading to the collapse of nine universal banks and 347 microfinance companies on May 31, 2019.
Progressively, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) later in August 2019 again revoked the licences of twenty-three (23) insolvent savings and loans companies and finance houses, whiles the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revoked the licenses of over 50 Fund Management Companies.
According to the bank, this was under Section 123 (1) of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930), which requires the Bank of Ghana to revoke the licence of a Bank or Specialised Deposit-Taking Institution (SDI) where the Bank of Ghana determines the insolvency of an institution.
Assets of defunct Ideal Finance Boss, Nii Kotei Dzani frozen by EOCO
Earlier this year, the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), froze 31 accounts of some landed property of Ideal Finance Boss, Nii Kotei Dzani as part of efforts to among other things, retrieve funds from him to settle customers whose funds are locked-up with the defunct company.
Ideal Finance was among the 23 savings and loans and finance houses that lost their licenses after they were declared insolvent by the Bank of Ghana; an exercise conducted as part of the financial sector clean-up.
