Defunct Beige Bank CEO, Mike Nyinaku granted bail, hospitalised
Embattled Founder of the collapsed Beige Bank, Michael Nyinku, is second time lucky as the Accra Circuit Court, which sent him to police custody on remand releases him on bail.
Before gaining his limited freedom, the judge set bail conditions including GH₵ 352 million with two sureties who must be civil servants earning not less than GH₵ 2,000.
The CEO of the defunct bank will also leave his passport with the registrar of the court and is required to report himself to the Police twice a week on Mondays and Fridays.
Although the same court refused him bail last Tuesday, he returned before the same judge, Mr Emmanuel Essandoh, with his lawyers to make a more convincing case for his release.
When he appeared before the court on January 14, 2020, Mr Essandoh insisted he was not convinced about the bail application.
His lawyer from the previous encounter, Mr Baffour Ashia Bonsu, stepped aside for Mr Thaddeus Sory, whom he held brief for three days ago, and the senior member of the bar appears to have found the right words for the judge’s ears.
Mr Sory prayed the court to release his client on bail as Nyinaku was presumed innocent until proven guilty.
He added that the law regulating bail was spelt in the country’s statutes and was also quick to add the power to grant bail was in the bosom of the judge irrespective of what the prosecution presented before the court.
The prosecution offered little objection to the bail request. It rather informed the court that the accused person had been sent the police hospital for treatment after taking ill on Thursday, the judge granted the bail.
The case has subsequently been adjourned to January 22, 2020.
Nyinaku has been charged with two counts of Stealing contrary to section 124 (1) of the Criminal and Other Offences Act 1969 (Act 29) as amended by part 4 of (NLCD) No. 398/69 and Money Laundering contrary to section 1(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2008 (Act 749).
“Michael Nyinaku: For that, you between the 14th day of March 2018 to August 2018 in Accra in the Greater-Accra Circuit and within the jurisdiction of this court with 8 others dishonestly appropriated the sum of GHC340.94 million the property of clients of Beige Bank” the charge sheet stated.
He denies the charges.
Court documents
Court documents indicate that Nyinaku sat on a GH¢340m hidden bank account in breach of banking regulations, court documents have revealed.
The secret account named First African Savings and Loans (FASL) was lodged at the Consolidated Bank of Ghana which took over The Beige Bank (TTB) in August 2018.
On the blind side of the regulator, the motivational speaker who is in police custody began splashing the cash around companies and organisations he controlled.
Court documents: How Beige bank founder created GH¢340m secret account and splashed the cash
On Tuesday, defunct UT Bank CEO, Kofi Amoabeng was also granted bail.