By William
Yaw Owusu
Saturday
August 18, 2018
Prince Kofi
Amoabeng, the businessman who set up defunct UT Bank, has broken his silence,
saying he has been compelled to speak because the facts leading to the collapse
of the bank are being misrepresented.
He said he
maintained his silence for a number of reasons, including the fact that the
Economic and Organized Crime Organization (EOCO) continues to investigate the
circumstances leading to the collapse of UT Bank.
Mr Amoabeng established
Unique Trust Financial Services and later turned it into a bank after acquiring
Metropolitan and Allied Bank.
He later floated
shares and subsequently listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), but all these
resources, as well as bailout from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) went down the drain,
leaving the bank heavily insolvent due to governance issues.
UT Bank alone is said to have been given over
GH¢860 million by the BoG as lifeline, but still couldn’t survive the mounting
bad loans granted to its customers which culminated in its eventual collapse.
According to a leaked report by a team commissioned
by the BoG to investigate the collapse of UT and Capital Banks, UT Bank was
heavily indebted, as companies, including those of Ibrahim Mahama, junior
brother of former President John Mahama, owed the bank to the tune of over GH¢300
million.
Mr. Amoabeng, in a
statement on Thursday evening said, “I have personally been deeply disturbed by
events that preceded the collapse of UT bank and more so, some of the happenings
that have unfolded after the takeover by the Bank of Ghana.”
Heart Bleeds
“The last one year
has been a very challenging period for the UT family. In truth, my heart bleeds
as I struggle to come to terms with the fact that the organization we toiled so
hard to build over 20 years ceases to exist. A lot has been said over the
period in question,” he said.
Setting Records
“I feel compelled to
come out at this time following widespread misrepresentation of the facts of
the matter, particularly in relation to my supposed withdrawal of some GH¢5
million, which according to media reports, I failed to disclose to my board.”
He explained that “Kofi
Jobs Gyebi was a client of UT Bank who secured a loan facility and subsequently
paid off the loan with its accrued interest in full. Mr. Gyebi, after paying
off in full to the bank, expressed interest in purchasing my personal residence
at Roman Ridge in Accra, which I had put up for sale.”
Mr. Amoabeng said “due
to UT Bank’s challenges at the time, I instructed that payment for the said
house be made to my personal bank account at UT Bank to help shore up the
company’s liquidity. I wonder then how my decision not to disclose payment of
monies into my personal account for the purchase of my personal residence constitutes
a misdeed as suggested by several news reports.”
According to him, “It’s
instructive to note that the Boulders report, which was the source document of
the said news report, indeed referenced my response to the team that
interviewed me on the same matter. On page 46 of the said report, it states, “When
Boulders Advisors Limited enquired about this transaction, Mr P.K. Amoabeng
indicated he had sold his personal residence at Roman Ridge, Accra to Mr Kofi
Jobs Gyebi.”
He said “it’s curious
that the revelation was neither factored into the conclusion of the Boulders’
report nor any of the widespread media reportage.”
Turn of events
“I’m saddened by the
turn of events these past few months. Our brand was guided by a vision of
assisting Ghanaian businesses and individuals to achieve their aims, based on
sound values, principles and discipline,” he said, adding that “we had always
envisioned growing this company into a steadfast and international
Ghanaian-owned company. However, in our quest to support Ghanaian businesses
and individuals, the company had challenges, and the Central Bank intervened.”
He said the actions
so far taken by the Central Bank “have adversely affected the operations of the
remaining group of companies of UT,” adding that “the UT brand, which was
previously a super brand a few years ago, has been totally defamed. The
situation has, for instance, led to difficulties in the servicing of payments
due investors.”
“More importantly to
me today though is the inability of several workers, who once prided themselves
as UT staff and now have little or nothing to show for their years of
dedication and service; the negative impact on the other UT companies in the
eyes of investors who believed in us and our vision to see a Ghanaian owned company
become a successful global brand.”
He said he would continue
to cooperate with all state agencies probing the development for “finality to
be brought to this matter.”
House Sale
Mr Amoabeng came under public scrutiny over
the role he might have played in the total collapse of the bank.
The report had said he did not disclose the
receipt of some GH¢5 million paid to him by Kofi Jobs Limited believed to be
one of the companies linked to Ibrahim Mahama, which happens to be a debtor of
the bank.
The bank had authorised an advance payment
guarantee from Engineers and Planners, which settled Kofi Job Ltd’s
indebtedness to the bank but Mr. Amoabeng is now saying that he did nothing
wrong in the transaction.
The report also indicted him and his bank for
breaching the ‘single obligor’ limits for Ibrahim Mahama’s connected companies
of Holman Brothers, Kofi Jobs, Dzata Cement, MBG Limited and Engineers &
Planners Limited.
The single obligor limit, according
to the report, is the maximum amount a bank is allowed to lend a single borrower or an individual in relation to the
total shareholders' fund of that bank.
For instance, Mr. Amoabeng, who exited UT Bank,
extended additional credit to Holman Brothers by pledging a $5 million
placement as collateral security with Beige Savings and Loans to extend a $5
million loan to Holman Brothers during his tenure.
UT Holdings
The report further said Mr. Amoabeng, as UT
Bank boss, consistently signed investment placement deals on behalf of both the
UT Bank and UT Holdings, explaining that “several deposit investments were
placed with UT Holdings Limited and not recorded as liabilities and assets on
the UT Bank’s books.”
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