THE JFT EDIT

The founder of UT Group, Prince Kofi Amoabeng has been put before an Accra circuit court for his role in the collapse of his bank in 2017. Mr. Amoabeng is facing charges of stealing and money laundering.

Citi News‘ court correspondent, Fred Tettey Djabanor said Kofi Amoabeng was put before court together with the CEO of defunct Beige Bank, Mike Nyinaku. According to the prosecution, the two men who run different organizations allegedly misappropriated funds in excess of GH¢200 million belonging to their customers.

The prosecution said investigations were still ongoing into their separate cases to ascertain the full extent of their offences. The Court, presided over by Justice Essandor, subsequently granted Mr. Amoabeng bail to the tune of GHS110 million cedis with two sureties who earn not less than GHS 2,000.

The Bank of Ghana on August 14, 2017, announced that it had revoked the license of UT Bank and ordered GCB Bank to take over its operation because it had severe capital impairment. Provisional figures released by the central bank showed the total liability of UT Bank stood at GH¢850 million while its total asset was pegged at GH¢112 million.

Speaking on the matter after nearly two years after the BoG’s action, Kofi Amoabeng in a TV interview said the fortunes of the bank could’ve been turned around if the Bank of Ghana had given him more time.

The government found us in that situation, [but] was this the best route to take? because we had investors who were ready with some proposals. They [government] decided that the best thing is to close down UT Bank which I find really difficult to take but from where they are sitting, they decide that was the best thing for the country. I don’t bear grudges but the point is, if as UT Bank we owed GH¢800 million and an investor comes and he says I’m ready to pay GH¢400 million [so] Bank of Ghana write off the [other] GH¢400 million, but BoG takes a decision to close down the bank which will cost the nation at least GH¢ 2.2 billion, it doesn’t make sense to me,” he said.

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The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of defunct Beige Bank, Mike Nyinaku, has been remanded in police custody.

He is to be held there for one week. This follows the dismissal of a bail application by his lawyers who assured the court that he will cooperate with the ongoing trial. Although the application was not opposed by the prosecution, the judge said his decision was because the prosecution said investigations were still ongoing.

Mr. Nyinaku is facing trial over his alleged role in the collapse of his bank. In June 2019, the receiver for Beige Bank, Nii Amanor Dodoo sued him together with 12 of his subsidiary companies to a tune of over GHc1.3 billion.

The Bank of Ghana of Ghana revoked the license of Beige Bank in 2018. Beige Bank was said to have obtained a banking license falsely. An inventory asset and property report filed by the Receiver to the Bank of Ghana revealed that Beige Bank had total assets of GHc 494 million.

Out of the figure, GHc 282 million, representing 57% were loans and securities. According to the report, the bank gave an amount of GHc 274 million, constituting 31% of the loans to related parties. The Receiver said Beige bank did not adhere to credit administration policies and had inadequacies in recovery efforts.

Receiver sues ex-Beige Bank CEO, subsidiaries; demands GHc1.3bn refund
Michael Nyinaku together with 12 of his subsidiary companies were subsequently sued by the Receiver of the defunct company, Nii Amanor Dodoo. He is expected to cough up over GHc1.3 billion.

Amanor Dodoo who dragged Nyinaku and 12 of his subsidiaries, including Legacy Pension Trust Ltd, The Beige Group Ltd, BBS Logistics and Beige Village to court, in his writ, insists that the defunct bank transferred several millions of Ghana cedis to the said companies ranging between GHc1 million and over GHc100 million.

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General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s former military leader, has been sentenced to death at a special court hearing in Islamabad.

The three-member court sentenced him over a high treason charge that has been pending since 2013. Gen Musharraf seized power in a military coup in 1999 and served as the country’s president from 2001 to 2008. He is currently in Dubai after being allowed to leave the country for medical treatment in 2016. The charge relates to Gen Musharraf’s suspension of the constitution in 2007, when he imposed emergency rule in a move intended to extend his tenure.

He issued a video statement from a hospital bed earlier this month, describing the case against him as “baseless”. Gen Musharraf is the first military ruler to ever stand trial in Pakistan for overruling the constitution. The verdict was announced Tuesday with a 2-1 majority.

What’s the case about?

In November 2007, Gen Musharraf suspended the constitution and imposed emergency rule – a move which sparked protests. He resigned in 2008 to avoid the threat of impeachment.

When Nawaz Sharif – an old rival whom he deposed in a coup in 1999 – was elected prime minister in 2013, he initiated a treason trial against Gen Musharraf and in March 2014 the former general was charged for high treason. Gen Musharraf argued the case was politically motivated and that the actions he took in 2007 were agreed by the government and cabinet. But his arguments were turned down by the courts and he was accused of acting illegally.

According to the Pakistani constitution, anyone convicted of high treason could face the death penalty. Gen Musharraf has been living in Dubai since 2016 and he has steadfastly refused to appear before the court, despite multiple orders.

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President Akufo-Addo has on Wednesday, 27th November, 2019 conferred Ghanaian citizenship on some 126 members of the African Diaspora, including wife of Legendary Bob Marley, Rita Marley.

The over hundred members of the Diaspora community qualified for the citizenship after reportedly living in the country for many years. The ceremony was part of the series of activities commemorating the ‘Year of Return’.

Meanwhile, Mr. Akufo-Addo has urged them to respect and abide by the laws of Ghana; live in accordance with the tenets of Ghana’s Constitution; and guard jealously the country’s image.

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President Donald Trump says he expects the United States to benefit by millions of dollars per month from Syria’s oil revenues while US troops remain in the country.

The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has responded by accusing the US of “stealing oil” from his country and Russia, a major supporter of Mr Assad, has called it “international state banditry”. So who currently controls Syria’s oil production and who benefits from it?

“We’re keeping the oil, remember that. We want to keep the oil. Forty-five million dollars a month.” Donald Trump
US President

The US announced a withdrawal of its forces from northern Syria in October, but has since said it would retain around 500 troops to guard oil facilities, along with Kurdish-led forces, who are currently the main beneficiaries of the production.

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper has said US troops are there to guard against not only Islamic State fighters but also Russian and Syrian government forces. For their part, Russian forces are helping Syrians try to regain control of oil production and have their eyes on these facilities. The two countries signed an energy co-operation agreement in 2018 giving Moscow exclusive rights to rebuild the Syrian oil and gas sector. It’s in this context that President Trump has declared his own interest in benefiting from the oil his troops are defending.

It’s about money and it’s about oil….Of course we are angry, every Syrian is angry. This is looting.” Bashar al-Assad
Syrian President.

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Amakye Dede has sued Enock Nana Yaw Oduro Agyei, known popularly in the music scene as Trigmatic, for defamation.

In his statement of claim, Amakye Dede whose musical career spans over four decades, stated that on October 15 this year, his attention was drawn to a publication on a website, http://www.ghgossip.com which reads, “Amakye Dede does not write his own songs” attributed to Trigmatic.

“In their natural and ordinary meaning, the words published by the defendant (Trigmatic) referred to and were understood to refer to the plaintiff (Amakye Dede) and they meant and they were understood to mean (a) that the plaintiff is incapable of writing his own songs. (b) That plaintiff’s songs are written by someone else for him to sing or produce. (c) That plaintiff’s stature and legendary status must be taken with a pinch of salt. (d) That the height, popularity and the fame the plaintiff has achieved in the music circles over the years are not genuine and that the esteem and reverence people hold and have for him as well as the nation on the plaintiff as an ace and top-class musician should be reconsidered,” the statement said.

It said immediately the defendant published his words on him (plaintiff) on the website aforesaid, people from all walks of life started to call the plaintiff and sarcastically wanted to know if the he does not write his own songs as claimed by the defendant.

According to the statement, the plaintiff became disturbed from the sarcastic phone calls he received and is still disturbed.

The statement claimed that the defendant later confirmed his defamatory publication on Zylofon FM. It further stated that the online platform where those words were published by the defendant about the plaintiff speaks for itself, being gossip consumption website where stories, gossip and illicit agenda which travel faster than the sun rays are spread. It said by the defendant’s publication, his reputation has now become charged and he has been ridiculed, adding that the defendant’s words used in his publication have lowered the image of the plaintiff, reverence and esteem before the right-thinking members of the society both locally and internationally.

The statement, however, declared that per the defendant’s defamatory publication on the plaintiff, he is likely to have diminished show contracts and low attendance to his shows. The statement of claim is seeking the following: (a) A declaration that the defendant’s words published of plaintiff are defamatory. (b) General damages for libel contained in the defendant’s publication indorsed by way of attachment and particularized paragraph 11. (c) Aggravated damages arising from libel published by the defendant of the plaintiff to the sum of GH¢1, 000, 000 against the defendant. (d) Cost, including lawyer’s fees. (e) Any further relief or orders as the court may deem meet.

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Kim Kardashian West has sadly not recovered her stolen 20-carat diamond ring.

The KKW Beauty mogul addressed the fan confusion after she posed with a massive emerald-cut diamond in her latest KKW Fragrance ads for her Diamonds Collection, that looked very similar to the Lorraine Schwartz ring, which was taken from her during a 2016 robbery in Paris.

Though fans initially thought Kim, 39, had regained possession of the missing “second” engagement ring, the mother-of-four explained the gem seen in the adverts was just a loaner.

“I borrowed all jewelry from Lorraine Schwartz,” she said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “It was nice to borrow it all and it was nice to give it back to her.”

She continued, “That was a really fun shoot and because it was diamonds, I thought this was the perfect way to bring it back and wear them again.”

Kim added that she turned to Schwartz, who also designed her first engagement ring from husband Kanye West, for the shoot because the jeweler “always knows the cut and everything that I really wanted.” “So when I want to wear something, I’ll borrow it from her for the day,” she said. “There is a replica around. A little fake that I’ll borrow from her sometimes that she made. A really nice one. It looks really nice.” Kim was held up at gunpoint during 2016 Paris Fashion Week when robbers entered her hotel room and stole $10 million in jewels. Her 20-carat emerald-cut ring was reportedly valued at $4 million and was never recovered.

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A Mexican trainer and fitness model was found dead in her Tijuana home on Sunday after she was stabbed multiple times and shot in her head, reports said.

The body of 23-year-old Alondra Getsemani Villaseñor was discovered by her mother at the home in the city’s Obrera Tercera Sección neighborhood, located in northwestern Mexico’s Baja California state, just south of California, according to The Herald of Mexico.

The unnamed mother reportedly went to check on her daughter after not getting a response to her calls. Villaseñor was already dead when her mother arrived, authorities said. They said she appeared to have been dead for at least 24 hours. A 9mm bullet casing and two small bags containing what appeared to be marijuana were also found at the scene, according to Mexico’s state-run news agency Notimex.

Investigators have found no motive for the killing and have made no arrests. Their only lead in the case is witness accounts that the alleged killer left the scene in a red vehicle, the agency reported.