Mensa Otabil breaks silence on suit

Founder and leader of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), Pastor Mensa Otabil, has played down the impact of a law suit filed against him over his role in the collapse of the now defunct Capital Bank.

According to him, the suit filed against him is just “somebody’s opinion” and is therefore “not a judgment” or an "evidence".

Pastor Otabil, ICGC and 13 other stakeholders of the Capital Bank have been dragged to court for their roles in the collapse of the bank.

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The plaintiffs, Messrs Vish Ashiagbor and Eric Nana Nipah, both of the accounting and auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, maintain that the defendants caused “financial loss” to the bank with their actions.

The preacher has been in the news over the past months over his involvement in the capitulation of the bank, where he was Board Chairman.

A detailed report from the Central Bank indicates that Pastor Otabil was in the know about a GHc610 million liquidity support which was diverted into other businesses.

Instead of using the money to restore Capital Bank to its knees, the management, with the approval of the ICGC founder, diverted the money for other uses, leading to the eventual collapse of the local bank in August 2017.

Owner of the bank, Ato Essien, reportedly moved the money into companies believed to be owned by him and others on the Board, whiles the rest was used as capital to secure a license for another now-defunct bank, Sovereign Bank.

Dr. Otabil has since been under criticism from a section of the public, who believe he should have stood against the move, considering the man he is.

The plaintiffs have, therefore, sued the pastor, his church ICGC, Ato Essien and other stakeholders believed to have caused the collapse of the bank.

But speaking on the issue at Christ Temple in Accra, Pastor Otabil said the suit is somebody’s opinion and not an evidence.

“Well, as you know, a couple of things have happened and you’ve heard quite a few of them; you are Ghanaians, so, you hear stuff and I know people have all kinds of questions and so on,” he said.

“First of all, I can’t explain anything to you. I can’t because I’m in court. So, we will allow the process to continue and hopefully, the full truth will be known.”

He added: “There’s space for people’s opinion but when you go to court, you are not just dealing with people’s opinion, you are dealing with facts, so, it’s going to be interesting."

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“The only thing I want to say, just briefly, is that: A suit, or when somebody sues you, it is not an evidence neither is it judgment. It is just somebody’s opinion.

“And there will be defence and there will be other things, so, follow closely how things will proceed and how they’ll end”, he urged his church members.

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Source: YEN.com.gh