Accra: The Court of Appeal has granted GHC10 million bail to William Ato Essien, CEO of the defunct Capital Bank, pending the determination of his appeal. The three-member panel ordered Essien to provide two sureties with justification, deposit his passport at the Court's registry, and report monthly to the Registrar. The court noted that Essien's imprisonment raised legal questions regarding the application of Section 35 of the Courts Act.

According to Ghana News Agency, counsel for the convict applied for bail on health grounds. Essien was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in October 2023 for stealing GHC90 million after pleading guilty on December 13, 2022, to 16 counts of conspiracy to steal, stealing, and money laundering. Presiding judge Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, a Court of Appeal Judge with additional responsibility at the High Court, had initially suspended the sentence following a restitution agreement between Essien and the state.

Essien paid GHC37 million but failed to refund the full amount, prompting the state to seek his incarceration in May 2023. The funds misappropriated by Essien formed part of liquidity support extended by the Bank of Ghana to Capital Bank in 2015 and 2016.