Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of defunct Unique Trust Bank (UT Bank), Prince Kofi Amoabeng, has spoken on the collapse of his bank.
Speaking in a media engagement in Accra, the former CEO and founder of UT Bank, attributed the collapse of the bank to high levels of non-performing loans.
Adding that, acts of thievery by some staff also played a role in the bank’s collapse.
He alleged that a number of staff who joined the financial institution were “plain thieves” who engaged in acts that compromised the bank’s financial health.
Of the non-performing loans, Mr Amoabeng cited loans including the ones disbursed to Ibrahim Mahama’s Dzata Cement Company.
Noting that, failure to pay back the loan was one of the things that caused trouble for the bank, but quickly added that he has never regretted his decision to advance such a loan facility to Dzata Cement, which belonged to former President Mahama’s brother – he failed to disclose the loan amount.
Asked if he anticipated a takeover due to the non-performing loans, Mr Amoabeng answered in the negative, saying;
I knew the baby was sick to the point that I had to step out for another person to step in as CEO to restructure it. But I wasn’t expecting the baby to die because of the brand we had created and the impact it was having on the national economy.
Airing his view on the promise by former President Mahama to return collapsed banks to their respective owners if he wins the December 7 polls, Mr Amoabeng said such a promise is not feasible.
“Such promises are only good for the ears,” he asserted.
