IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF JUDICATURE

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE

ACCRA - A.D. 2020

Case No.

REPUBLIC

VRS.

1. KWABENA DUFFUOR
2. HODA HOLDINGS LIMITED
3. JOHNSON PANDIT ASIAMA
4. KWABENA DUFFUOR II
5. EKOW NYARKO DADZIE-DENNIS
6. ELSIE DANSOA KYEREH
7. JEFFREY AMON
8. BENJAMIN OFORI
9. KWADWO OPOKU OKOH

FACTS

Kwabena Duffuor, the 1st accused person, is a shareholder of uniBank Ghana

Limited (uniBank) and the ultimate beneficial owner of HODA Holdings Company
Limited (HODA). HODA, the 2nd accused person, is a holding company and the
majority shareholder of uniBank. Johnson Pandit Asiama, the 3rd accused person,
was the 2nd Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BOG) between April 2016 and
January 2018. The 4th accused person, Kwabena Duffuor II, formerly a Chief
Operating Officer (COO) of uniBank subsequently became the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) of uniBank between June 2017 and March 2018. The 5th accused
person, Ekow Nyarko Dadzie-Dennis, who was a COO of uniBank is a member of
the Board of Directors of WAICA Reinsurance Corporation Plc (WAICA-Re), Sierra

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Leone. The 6th accused person, Elsie Dansoa Kyereh, was an Executive Head of
Corporate Banking at uniBank. The 7th accused person, Jeffrey Amon, was a Senior
Relationship Manager of Corporate Banking at uniBank. The 8th accused person,
Benjamin Ofori was the Executive Head of Credit Risk at uniBank. The 9th accused
person, Kwadwo Opoku Okoh, was a Financial Control Manager of uniBank and is
Head of Finance of HODA.

UniBank went into official administration on 20th March 2018 and was placed in
receivership on 1st August 2018. KPMG, the Official Administrator, in the course of
its duties discovered that about GH¢5.7 billion had become due from shareholders
of uniBank as of 20th March 2018. No security nor proper credit arrangements were
made for the payment of the amount which remains unpaid. The debt of GH¢5.7
billion was made up of two components, namely, a Deferred Expenditure Account
(DEA) together with other balances of about GH¢3.7 billion and secondly, Loans
and Advances made up of about GH¢2 billion. The DEA was a general ledger
account created and operated for the benefit of shareholders of uniBank. The
GH¢3.7 billion was also made up of a number of transactions of which about
GH¢2.4 billion constituted direct payouts for the benefit of shareholders. Out of
the amount of GH¢2.4 billion, the 4th and 5th accused persons acting in concert
dishonestly appropriated funds out of customer deposits and borrowings from BOG
for the benefit of shareholders through a variety of means including the use of petty
cash vouchers and cash pay-in slips amounting to about GH¢613 million. Out of
the amount of GH¢613 million, various payments were dishonestly made to the
accounts of related parties of uniBank including the 2nd accused person (HODA),
HODA Properties, Numa Logistics, Integrated Properties, Topp Recruitment and
Bolton Portfolio without recourse to due process contrary to proper banking
practice. Corresponding entries were also dishonestly posted to the DEA.

The 1st and 2nd accused persons between January 2014 and February 2018
dishonestly received over GH¢663,283,917.19 through subsidiaries of the 2 nd
accused person out of customer deposits with uniBank that were dishonestly
transferred and recorded in the DEA.

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It was also discovered that in April 2016, an amount of GH¢35million was
dishonestly paid from uniBank funds to Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL) for the
purchase of shares in GOIL for the benefit of Starmount Development Company
Limited (Starmount), a related party. The amount of GH¢35 million was also posted
to the DEA at the instance of the 4th and 5th accused persons.

Between November 2015 and September 2017, at the instance of the 4th and 5th
accused persons, various dishonest payments amounting to GH¢74 million were
made by uniBank to fund a commercial printing and label manufacturing
company, uniPrecision Printing and Packaging Company Limited (uniPrecision),
also a subsidiary of HODA. These payments were charged to the DEA. UniBank
failed to recover these funds from uniPrecision.

Between December 2015 and June 2016, uniBank applied for various liquidity
support of GH¢200 million, GH¢350 million and GH¢450 million from BoG out of
which only GH¢150 million was paid leaving an overdue amount of GH¢850 million
excluding interest. Whilst still in default in the repayment of the BoG liquidity
support of GH¢850 million, uniBank borrowed several amounts through overnight
interbank borrowings.

In September, 2016, the 3rd accused person, even though aware that uniBank was
in a poor liquidity state and still in default of repayments due BoG contrived a
scheme whereby the 3rd accused person gave approval for the disbursement of a
GH¢300 million unsecured facility to Universal Merchant Bank Limited (UMB) for
the benefit of uniBank without following prescribed mandatory statutory
conditions. GH¢150 million of the facility remains unpaid.

On 5th December 2016, uniBank borrowed GH¢400 million from BoG as overnight
borrowing in addition to other borrowings from the interbank market. Despite its
weak liquidity position, uniBank, at the instance of the 4th and 5th accused persons,
dishonestly transferred a total of about GH¢325 million through UMB as payment
for 51% adb shares, in the names of Belstar Capital Limited (Belstar), Starmount,
SIC Financial Services Limited (SIC-FSL), EDC Investments Limited (EDC), Oscar
Yao Doe and Mark Blewunyo Cofie. The balance of the outstanding GH¢850 million

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liquidity support from BOG was still due at the time uniBank transferred the
amount of GH¢325 million funds to purchase the adb shares which compelled BOG
to nullify the purchase of the shares.

The second component of GH¢2 billion due to uniBank by shareholders included

31 fictitious loans amounting to over GH¢1billion created at the instance of the 4th,
5th, 6th, 7th and 8th accused persons. Investigations disclosed that none of the
customers in whose names the fictitious loans were created applied for, received
nor were granted any loan facility by the bank. As a result of the dishonest conduct
of the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th accused persons, the outstanding balance due to the
bank on the DEA was dishonestly excluded from uniBank’s assets in its prudential
returns to BoG and its annual financial statements thereby misreporting its true
state of affairs to the regulatory authorities and users of its financial statements.

The 4th accused person on 6th June 2016 dishonestly authorised the establishment
of a Letter of Credit (LC) by uniBank in the sum of $12.5 million for the benefit of
uniPrecision for the purchase of equipment. Investigations revealed that no
equipment was purchased. Payments in respect of the LC were made by uniBank
to Ecobank, Paris. The total amount paid in that transaction was about $13.5
million inclusive of interest.

The 4th, 5th and 9th accused persons, acting in concert between November 2013
and February 2014, dishonestly appropriated the sum of about $9.5 million
ostensibly for the purchase of shares in WAICA-Re in the names of Telemedia
Communications (Telemedia), Crown Insurance Brokers (Crown Insurance),
uniCredit Ghana Limited (uniCredit), HODA, uniBank, uniSecurities Ghana
Limited (uniSecurities) and the 1st accused person, Kwabena Duffuor.
Investigations disclosed that Telemedia, Crown Insurance, uniCredit, uniSecurities
and the 1st accused person held no shares in WAICA-Re.

Again, between 30th November 2016 and 23rd December 2016 the 4th, 5th and 9th
accused persons caused further dishonest transfers to WAICA-Re amounting to
about $9 million ostensibly as payments for WAICA-Re rights issue in the names
of uniBank, Crown Insurance, Star Micro Insurance, HODA, Star Assurance

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Limited and StarLife Assurance Limited bringing the total transfers to WAICA-Re
to about $18.5 million. It emerged that Crown Insurance and Star Micro Insurance
held no shares in WAICA-Re.

On 14th June 2017, the 4th, 5th and 9th accused persons dishonestly caused the
entire 4,113,113 shares held by uniBank in WAICA-Re valued at $4,113,113 to be
transferred to HODA without any consideration. Investigations revealed that the
transfer of these shares did not go through due process.

It was further revealed that the 4th, 5th and 9th accused persons had resorted to an
orchestrated scheme to fraudulently cover up uniBank’s real stake in WAICA-Re
and to facilitate a falsification of the actual state of affairs of the bank in breach of
banking regulations.

Based on these facts, the accused persons have been arranged before this
Honourable Court for trial.

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