Prince Kofi Amoabeng, a co-founder of UT Bank, claims he is bankrupt.
The CEO of the now defunct bank claimed he lost all his wealth after the Bank of Ghana revoked the institution's licence in 2017.
Mr Amoabeng told Kafui Dey: "Ghanaians (who don't like those who progress) should be happy [about this] because I have no wealth, I'm broke."
"And it doesn't make any difference because I'm still wearing the same one [pair of] shoes and one watch, so it doesn't make any difference to me," he said. "I wore one shoe, I had one watch, and this same watch - I remember wearing it every day, so now I still wear the same one [pair of] shoes and one watch."
But, he continued, "Ghanaians tend to think that I have some wealth hidden somewhere, because they put themselves in my shoes: they think that if they were like me, if they owned a bank, they would have a lot of money outside, but my wealth was in the bank and in the company, so while the company and the bank were doing very well, I was worth a lot of money, but the bank went through losses and so on and so forth, so my capital went down. It's not difficult to understand, I think.
Nevertheless, Mr Amoabeng said, "at least to live to see another day, I get my pension, which is not worth very much at the moment, and I have what I need to live on".
Mr Amoabeng thanked Seidu Agongo, a businessman and philanthropist, for being the only Ghanaian to offer to help him in October last year after a selfie of him with a scruffy beard and a dejected expression went viral on social media, spreading rumours that he was now a pauper on the verge of death due to the failure of his bank.
On Tuesday, 4 October 2022, Mr Amoabeng said on CTV's breakfast show, Dwabre Mu, that the only reason he accepted an offer to appear on the show was because the station was owned by Mr Agongo's Class Media Group (CMG).
Mr Amoabeng told Nana Otu Darko: "Actually, the reason I couldn't say no to your invitation was because of his [Seidu Agongo's] personality. I've never met him, but at some point, after the COVID-19 pandemic, I started wearing this beard and I took a picture of myself and posted it on [social media] and that set tongues wagging that 'I was on the verge'. Of course, I didn't follow it up, but I'm very grateful that at least one Ghanaian decided to offer help rather than mock him.”
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