GN Bank never took a bailout from BoG – Group Nduom VP clarifies

The Vice President of Group Nduom, Nana Ofori Owusu, has clarified the fate of the GN Savings and Loans, as against other local banks whose licenses were revoked by the Bank of Ghana in 2017.

He explained that, unlike the others, GN Bank before it was made savings and loans till its subsequent collapse never received a bailout from the Central Bank.

This was after the Chairman of Groupe Ndoum and owner of the defunct Gold Coast Fund Management Company, Dr. Papa Kwesi Ndoum claimed over the weekend that the government still owes two of his companies and other subsidiaries over GH¢7 billion.

To revive his companies, Dr Ndoum has called on the government to reimburse contractors who borrowed money from Groupe Ndoum.

He argued that if the government had paid some of the contractors years ago, his companies would not have had the current financial challenges.

Speaking on the matter on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, Mr Ofori Owusu, emphasised the uniqueness of GN Bank’s situation, distinguishing it from other cases in the banking sector.

“A statement was made that some people have been jailed in the banking sector, I want people to understand that this is not a ‘banku effect’; that everybody is the same. Somebody was jailed for taking a bailout from the Bank of Ghana and using it in a way that was not appropriate. With the GN bank matter, GN has never taken a bailout from the Bank of Ghana,” he stated.

The conversation around bailouts and financial misconduct in the banking sector was reignited by the recent imprisonment of William Ato Essien, the former CEO of the now-defunct Capital Bank.

On October 15, an Accra High Court, led by Justice Kyei Baffour, sentenced Mr Essien to 15 years of imprisonment with hard labour after he failed to repay GH¢90 million to the state as ordered by the court.

Mr Essien had previously struck a deal with the state under section 35 of the Courts Act, which allows for an accused person to plead guilty and make restitution for financial losses to the state, potentially avoiding a custodial sentence. Despite this agreement, he did not fulfil his financial obligations within the stipulated timeframe.