Court adjourns former top banker trial
Prosecution in the case involving Michael Nyinaku, former defunct Beige Capital boss on Wednesday prayed the court for more time to file documents they intended to rely on for the trial.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Emmanuel Nyamekye told the court that the prosecution promised to file the documents on time but has not been able to do so.
He said; “we are therefore, praying the court for a short date to complete the process.”
The court presided over by Mr. Emmanuel Essandoh told the prosecution that if the documents were ready before the agreed date, they could file and notify the defence.
The court adjourned the trial to March 5.
The Court on January 22, this year directed the prosecution to file documents they intend to rely on for the trial to commence.
The court further directed the prosecution to ensure the accused Nyinaku and his lawyers were served with those documents by the next adjourned date.
Nyinaku who is facing the charges of stealing GH¢340 million allegedly belonging to depositors and money laundering has denied the charges.
The court earlier admitted him to bail in the sum of GH¢342 million with two sureties, who are public servants earning not less than GH¢2,000.00.
It further directed the accused to deposit his passport with the Court’s Registry.
According to the prosecution, ASP Nyamekye, in 2017, the BEIGE Group acquired a 90 per cent stake in a savings and loans company known as First African Savings and Loans (FASL) for $2.5 million.
According to him, as part of the transaction, an account known as the FASL Operational Account was opened at the BEIGE Bank.
He said as of the time the BEIGE Bank went into receivership, the said account had about GH¢12 million in it, which was known to the leadership of FASL.
He said the BEIGE Bank secretly opened another account in the name of FASL, which it used to channel funds to its entities and cronies.
“The withdrawals from the false FASL account were at the behest of Michael Nyinaku,” the prosecution said.
The prosecution further told the court that the said false FASL account had funds close to GH¢340.94 million when it was initially opened, but some of the money was later transferred.
ASP Nyamekye added that the leadership of FASL was not aware of the second account in its name.
He said some of the companies Nyinaku caused the tranfers to made to included Beige Academy, Beige Assure, Bidwest Micro Finance, Adelia limited, Legacy Pension, DYI Limited, Beige Capital Limited among others and individuals like Nnana Efia Evelyn Kyei and Godwin Nnordjo.
The Prosecution told the court that other investigations of the case were ongoing to unravel many other related offences.
Source: GNA