Capital Bank Collapse: EOCO Grants Rev. Fitz Odonkor Bail

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 and two other directors of the bank, Pastor Mensa Otabil, Founder of the International Central Gospel Church, ICGC, and William Ato Essien, were all invited to answer questions for their roles in the bank's collapse.

It is however unclear why EOCO held only Rev. Odonkor.

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.