I was only invited by police – Beige Bank boss refutes arrest claims

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the collapsed Beige Bank, Mike Nyinaku, has said he was never arrested by police for selling the defunct bank’s properties contrary to some media reports.

Mr. Nyinaku told Citi News he has only been invited by police, most recently over an enquiry into the disposal of some vehicles.

“Because the security agencies are investigating the demise of these banks, going there is almost a regular thing. I do not know what arrest means but I know of invitations and I am invited to the security agencies a lot of times.”

Mr. Nyinaku was said to have been arrested in Takoradi where he was engaged in the disposal of properties belonging to the defunct Beige Bank.

The arrest was ordered by the Special Investigating Team (SIT) probing the collapsed banks, according to the Daily Guide newspaper.

He said there may be some confusion over the difference between The Beige Bank and companies owned by The Beige Group.

In the case of the cars, he explained that a company under the umbrella of The Beige Group known as BBS, leased cars to Beige Bank before its collapse.

Following the collapse and takeover of the bank by the state, the deal with BBS was terminated, Mr. Nyinaku stated.

BBS then proceeded to dispose of some of the cars because “we’ve lost business,” he added.



Mr. Nyinaku also stressed that “we have not engaged in any sale of property belonging to the former Beige Bank.”

“All assets that belong with the former Beige Bank are with the Beige Bank and not a single one of them has been encumbered by me or any person related to me.”

Beige Bank, which was said to have obtained a banking licence falsely, was one of five collapsed banks taken over by the state.

These banks were consolidated under the banner of Consolidated Bank Ghana.
“Beige Bank and Construction Bank were each granted provisional licenses in 2016 and launched in 2017. Subsequent investigations conducted by the Bank of Ghana revealed that similar to the case of Sovereign Bank, both banks obtained their banking licenses under false pretences through the use of suspicious and non-existent capital, which has resulted in a situation where their reported capital is inaccessible to them for their operations,” the Bank of Ghana stated.

The other banks were uniBank, Royal Bank, Sovereign Bank, Beige Bank and the Construction Bank.

Source: citinewsroom.com