The High Court in Accra, presided over by Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, has directed the release of full proceedings in the ongoing trial of Michael Nyinaku, founder and CEO of the defunct Beige Bank Limited.
This development follows the prosecution’s request for an adjournment on Monday, January 20, when the 29th defense witness was expected to testify.
The prosecution’s request was granted, and the court ordered the release of full proceedings to both the prosecution and defense teams.
The defense lawyers did not oppose the adjournment request, and the case was adjourned to February 3, 2025.
The Beige Bank case involves Michael Nyinaku, who is facing trial for his role in the bank’s collapse. The trial has been ongoing, with multiple adjournments and developments.
Although the reason for the adjournment was unclear, EIB Network’s Legal Affairs Correspondent, Murtala Inusah, reported that by February 3, 2025, the new Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine, would have had time to familiarize himself with the case, which originated from the banking sector cleanup initiated by the previous Nana Akufo-Addo/Dr. Bawumia administration.
The founder of the defunct bank has been charged with 43 counts, including stealing, fraudulent breach of trust, and money laundering. He has pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution has closed its case after calling five witnesses, while Mr. Nyinaku is calling witnesses in his defense. Initially, 61 witnesses were expected to testify, but this number has been reduced to 41, with Witness 29 expected to testify before the adjournment.
Brief Facts
According to Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Nyinaku was the former Chief Executive Officer of Beige Bank. On August 1, 2018, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) revoked the banking license of Beige Bank and placed it in receivership.
A review of the bank’s financial and other records, conducted by the receiver and his team, revealed several suspicious and unusual transactions, which were subsequently reported to law enforcement agencies for investigation.
The investigations revealed that between 2015 and 2018, the accused, as CEO of the bank, allegedly used various means to transfer large sums of money to companies related to him and for his personal benefit. The funds transferred were depositors’ funds lodged with Beige Bank.
Between 2017 and 2018, Nyinaku allegedly caused the transfer of GH¢10,071.00 from fixed deposit accounts, in which various customers had placed a total of GH¢448,636,210.21, to Beige Capital Asset Management Limited (BCAM), without the knowledge or consent of the customers. BCAM is a limited liability company wholly owned by the Beige Group Limited, an entity also wholly owned by the accused.
Further investigations revealed that between 2017 and 2018, the accused caused the transfer of 35 fixed deposit investments belonging to 23 customers of Beige Bank, valued at GH¢141,042,348.92, to the Beige Group.
Additional Findings
In March 2018, the accused allegedly caused a “fictitious” second account to be opened in the name of First African Savings and Loans (FASL), an existing account holder with Beige Bank, without the knowledge of FASL’s board and management. Subsequently, GH¢320 million was transferred from Beige Bank customer accounts into BCAM accounts and then into the “fictitious” FASL account.
Between March 2018 and August 2018, GH¢21,123,270.96 out of the GH¢320 million was transferred from the fictitious FASL account to two individuals and ten companies, nine of which were related to Nyinaku.
Email Transactions
Between 2015 and 2017, the accused allegedly caused the payment of GH¢1,465,000.00 of depositors’ funds to himself and others, recorded in a general ledger account described as the “Directors’ Account.” Additionally, GH¢20,599,052.58 was transferred to the bank’s “Shareholders’ Account.”
Between 2016 and 2017, GH¢141,742,087.70 was transferred to companies and individuals, recorded under the “Prepayment-Project Work Account.” From 2017 to 2018, GH¢118,076,813.09 was also transferred to companies and individuals for the accused’s benefit, recorded under the “Beige Group Account.”
As of August 1, 2018, when Beige Bank’s license was revoked, the money allegedly appropriated by the accused remained unpaid.