Collapsed MFIs and SDIs: EOCO identifies over 100 landed properties for investigation
Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison
With clearance from the Bank of Ghana, the Receiver of collapsed microfinance companies and Special Deposit-Taking Institutions has referred 100 properties to the Economic Organized and Crime Office (EOCO) to be investigated to ascertain their ownership status.
Read full articleAccording to a status document sighted by GhanaWeb, this comprises 68 landed properties relating to five microfinance companies and 32 relating to nine saving and loans firms.
It noted that EOCO has since advised that these companies' accounts are frozen while they conduct their investigations.
The document providing the status of the clean-up exercise explained that the purpose of obtaining freezing orders is for EOCO and the Receiver to; ascertain the ownership status of the properties; ascertain whether the properties were acquired with resources of the defunct institutions.
It further said the move will help the investigator [EOCO] obtain all relevant documents for the said properties; conduct searches at the Lands Commission to aid the potential transfer of the assets to the Receiver.
It concluded that the move will also prevent owners from dissipating the assets before the Receiver starts the realisation process which will soon take place.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Ghana and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) have signed an agreement aimed at building a robust banking and financial sector.
The agreement also seeks to strengthen the investigative operations of EOCO to improve the country's banking and financial industry.
The central bank in 2017 undertook a clean-up exercise that saw the revocation of operating licenses of some eight banks, 23 savings and loans companies and more than 400 specialised deposit-taking institutions (SDIs).
According to the Receiver for some of the financial institutions, preliminary investigations found that most directors of the defunct financial institutions failed in their fiduciary responsibilities to customers and other stakeholders.
Read the full document below:
MA/ESA
