Kofi Amoabeng arrested over collapse of UT Bank

The co-founder of defunct UT bank was arrested in connection with the collapse of the bank on August 7, 2017.

Reports suggest that he was picked up in his office in Accra and sent to Circuit court four in Accra.

In August 2017, the Bank of Ghana revoked the licenses of UT bank and Capital bank due to insolvency.

Kofi Amoabeng and William Ato Essien founded UT bank and Capital bank respectively.

Mr Essien is already standing trial on 26 charges including stealing of various sums in excess of GHC260 million.

Three other people are being prosecuted with Mr Essien. The three are the Managing Director of the bank, Fitzgerald Odonkor, the Managing Director of MC Management Services, Tettey Nettey, and a businesswoman and Managing Director of Reroy Cables Company Limited Kate Quartey-Papafio.

The co-founder of UT bank after the collapse has taken responsibility for the collapse of his bank. He has also blamed the regulators of poor scrutiny leading to the challenges in the banking sector.

In an interview in 2019, Mr Amoabeng accused the BoG of licensing all sorts of people without any proper checks causing the current crisis in the banking sector.

“In recent times, because of politics and the way we play politics, it’s a matter of ‘whom you know’. So licenses were issued anyhow in so many numbers to all sort of people. That is what caused the problem. The people were not checked properly.”