The Court of Appeal has granted bail to William Ato Essien, the founder of the defunct Capital Bank, pending his appeal. In a ruling delivered on Wednesday, July 30, the court set the bail amount at GHS10 million with two sureties. As conditions for the bail, Essien is required to surrender his passport to the court registry and report to the Registrar monthly. Essien was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in 2023 by the Accra High Court for embezzling over GHS90 million from the bank. The conviction followed his failure to repay the full amount under a restitution agreement that had initially spared him a custodial sentence. Prior to the bail, there were calls from some quarters for Essien’s release due to health concerns.
