Case involving NIB MD adjourned

Saturday, May 9, 2009 (Page 3 Lead)

THE Accra Circuit Court has adjourned the case involving the Managing Director of the National Investment Bank (NIB), Daniel Gyimah, following a request from the Attorney-General’s Department.
The prosecutor in the case, Deputy Superintendent of Police Mr P. K. Frimpong, told the court at its sitting in Accra yesterday that he had received new directives from the Attorney-General’s office.
He, however, did not disclose what those directives were but asked for a month’s adjournment.
The court, presided over by Mr D. E. K. Dakatsey, obliged and adjourned the matter to June 5, 2009.
On March 20, 2009, the charge of wilfully causing financial loss to the state which was levelled against Gyimah was substituted to attempt to commit crime, to wit, causing financial loss to the state.
Mr Gyimah has also been charged with forgery of document in respect of an NIB report on goods under the control of the bank for ELAND International (GH) Limited, the company which was issued promissory notes to the tune of $60 million by Mr Gyimah.
The facts of the case are that on May 7, 2007 the accused, in an attempt to cause financial loss to the state, unilaterally entered into an agreement with ELAND International (GH) Limited in which he used the bank as a guarantor.
The prosecution said based on that guarantee, the accused issued 30 promissory notes, all valued at $60 million, to ELAND, of which his son, Stephen Poku Gyimah was secretary.
According to the it, the promissory notes were to mature on January 29, 2009 and within that period ELAND contacted IROKO Security Company Limited in London and discounted the $60 million promissory notes for $45 million.
It said on January 29, 2009, the International Banking Department of the NIB received a swift message requesting the NIB to confirm payment of the promissory notes.
According to the prosecution, Gyimah was notified of the irregularity of the message by the head of the International Banking Department but the MD ordered him to confirm and it was complied with.
It further stated that major documents on the deal between the NIB and ELAND could not be traced, as the accused claimed they were missing from the bank’s records.
The prosecution said the accused, in his statement, admitted having guaranteed on behalf of the bank, adding that he made a mistake by not contacting the board of directors of the bank.
It added that in the course of investigations, several documents, including a report on goods under the control of the NIB for ELAND, were detected to have been forged.