Ecobank Ghana has assured its customers and shareholders that “there is no cause for alarm” as one Daniel Ofori seeks to use the law courts to take over the bank’s head office building in Accra as part of a judgement debt due him.
Daniel Ofori secured an order via a writ of Fieri Facias (Fi-Fa) issued from the High Court (Commercial Division), Accra, which was subsequently pasted on the Head Office premises of Ecobank Ghana on Friday.
The Fi-Fa followed an order of the court that Mr. Ofori must recover from Ecobank an amount of GH¢96,304,972.41 in judgement debt from the bank.
Fi-Fa is a writ of execution after a party had obtained judgment in a legal action to recover debt or damages.
But the bank said in a statement they are using all legal avenues available to ensure the matter gets to it logical conclusions, following findings of a forensic audit that proves Daniel Ofori doctored material parts of documents he used to make his claim in court.
According to the statement, the attempts by Daniel Ofori to take over the Ecobank head office building is a desperate and misplaced measure on his part in the light of the current proceedings before the Supreme Court.
The following is the full statement from Ecobank on the matter.
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.
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.
