Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of defunct Beige bank, Michael Nyinaku, has been granted a GH¢200m bail with three sureties by the Accra High Court after he was arraigned yesterday over 44 fresh charges.
He has been accused of stealing GH¢1.2 billion belonging to customers of the defunct bank, which was collapsed by the bank of Ghana in 2018 after it became insolvent.
In the bail order, two of the sureties were to be justified with a landed property valued by the Architectural and Engineering Services Limited or the Land Valuation Division. The sureties could also deposit government bonds to the value of the bail bond.
Nyinaku was also ordered to deposit his passport with the registrar of the court and to report to the police every Monday and Friday.
He faces 44 charges of stealing, fraudulent breach of trust and money laundering but has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Presiding judge, Justice AfiaSerwahAsare-Botwe fixed the next hearing for December 22, 2022, and instructed the prosecution to file disclosures by December 9, 2022.
Prosecuting, Deputy Attorney-General(A-G) Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, said the alleged acts were discovered following investigations into the bank after its license was revoked and placed under receivership by the Bank of Ghana.
The court heard that between 2017 and 2018, accused caused the transfer of 10,017 fixed deposit accounts with more than GH¢448 million belonging to various customers to Beige Capital Asset without the knowledge and consent of the customers.
The deputy A-G further said between 2017 and 2018 the accused also allegedly caused the transfer of 35 fixed investments of 23 customers of Beige Bank amounting to more than GH¢141 million cedis to Beige Group, wholly owned by him while he was also a majority shareholder of Beige Bank.
He added that sometime in March 2018, MrNyinaku also caused a fictitious second account to be opened in the name of First Africa Savings and Loans which was an existing account holder with Beige Bank without the knowledge of the Board and management of the Savings and Loans company.
Mr Nyinaku previously appeared before a circuit court in 2020 accused of stealing over GH¢340 million.
BY NANA BENTSI ODURO
