Capital Bank Collapse Probe: Rev. Fitz Odonkor Granted Bail By EOCO

A former Chief Executive Officer of the now-defunct Capital Bank, Rev. Fitzgerald Odonkor, has been granted bail after he was invited to the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) today, Tuesday.

He was in the custody of EOCO for a few hours, in connection with the August 2017 collapse of Capital Bank.

According to Citi News sources, Rev. Odonkor was held by the financial crime investigation outfit after he had been invited.

He was asked to bring his lawyers, which he did, after which terms for the bail were agreed upon, including one surety.

Rev. Odonkor was questioned alongside five other directors of the bank, including Pastor Mensa Otabil, Founder of the International Central Gospel Church, ICGC, and William Ato Essien.

Out of the six, three were from UT Bank, whiles the three others were from Capital Bank.

Efforts by Citi News to reach him for comments after his release have so far proved futile.

Capital Bank and UT Bank collapsed because of their inability to turn around their negative capital adequacy position, and they were subsequently taken over by GCB Bank.

The liabilities of the two banks, according to the Bank of Ghana (BoG), overwhelmed their assets, leaving the central bank with no option but to undertake a purchase and assumption transaction, as the least costly method of dealing with a collapse.

Probe into top management

At the end of March 2018, the former Directors of Capital Bank and UT Bank were invited by EOCO to answer for their roles in the collapse of the banks.

This followed the findings of an investigative report on the collapse which was submitted to the BoG.

Prior to the summons by EOCO, the Second-Deputy Governor of the BoG, Elsie Awadzie, had assured that the activities of the top officials of the two banks were under scrutiny.

This was in response to a question on the Citi Breakfast Show, that the probe into the two collapsed banks’ management had stalled.

According to her, once the takeover of the two banks was confirmed, the BoG focused on securing the assets of the banks.

The BoG said it would sanction shareholders, directors, and key management personnel who are found to be culpable, and whose activities led to the collapse of both banks.

It is unclear if the former directors of the defunct UT Bank have also appeared before EOCO after the summons.