Ecobank Ghana PLC (Ecobank) has reassured its customers and shareholders not worry about the on-going legal tussle between the bank and one Daniel Ofori.
In a press statement copied to Business Week, it said:
We wish to assure our cherished customers and shareholders that there is no cause for alarm and that Ecobank will pursue the matter to its logical conclusion in court.
Below is the full statement
Ecobank Ghana PLC (Ecobank), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) have been in court with one Daniel Ofori for the past 13 years over a share trade transaction in 2008.
Ecobank, SEC & GSE won at the High Court in 2011 and the Court of Appeal in 2013. The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeal in 2018 and awarded interest in favour of Daniel Ofori based in part, on an investment arrangement between Ecobank and Daniel Ofori.
Subsequent to the Supreme Court decision, a forensic examination conducted by the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service on the investment agreement tendered in evidence by Daniel Ofori, showed that it had been altered in material parts.
Investigations conducted by Ecobank further showed that Daniel Ofori had collected dividends running into millions of Ghana Cedis as well as bonus shares in respect of the same shares he had sworn on oath, both at the High Court and Court of Appeal, that he had sold and therefore were not his.
Ecobank therefore applied to the Supreme Court to re-open the matter to take cognizance of the new evidence obtained by the Bank in order to do justice between the parties. The application by Ecobank was refused. Ecobank then obtained leave of the Supreme Court to apply for a review of the decision out of time. Ecobank has since filed the application for review which is pending in the Supreme Court.
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In the meantime, Daniel Ofori has garnisheed Ecobank’s funds with the Bank of Ghana. The garnishee proceedings have been stayed pending the outcome of the application in the Supreme Court. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Daniel Ofori has purported to attach Ecobank’s Head Office building and has gone around press houses with video clips of the purported attachment. This is simply a desperate and misplaced measure on the part of Daniel Ofori in the light of the current proceedings before the Supreme Court.
We wish to assure our cherished customers and shareholders that there is no cause for alarm and that Ecobank will pursue the matter to its logical conclusion in court.
Ecobank Ghana
Ecobank Ghana Plc is a subsidiary of the Ecobank Group, the leading independent pan-African banking group. The Ecobank Group employs over 15,000 people and serves about 20 million customers in the consumer, commercial and corporate banking sectors across 33 African countries.
The Group has a banking licence in France and representative offices in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Johannesburg, South Africa; Beijing, China; London, the UK and Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
The Group offers a full suite of banking products, services and solutions including bank and deposit accounts, loans, cash management, advisory, trade, securities, wealth and asset management.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchanges in Lagos, the Ghana Stock Exchange in Accra, and the Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières in Abidjan.
For further information, please visit www.ecobank.com
