Former CEO of the defunct Beige Bank, Michael Nyinaku
Former CEO of the defunct Beige Bank, Michael Nyinaku, has been acquitted of all 43 criminal charges leveled against him, including stealing, money laundering, and fraudulent breach of trust, in a landmark ruling delivered by the Accra High Court.
This decision marks a dramatic turning point in one of the most watched financial cases following the 2018 banking sector clean-up.
The court ruled that Nyinaku had no case to answer, effectively ending a years-long legal battle that placed him at the center of alleged financial misconduct.
Beige Bank, one of several indigenous banks affected by the central bank’s reforms, had its license revoked in August 2018 by the Bank of Ghana over what the regulator described as severe irregularities and non-compliance.
Following the revocation, the institution was placed under receivership, leading to a detailed investigation and subsequent charges by the Office of the Attorney-General.
The prosecution claimed that Nyinaku diverted over GH¢1.2 billion of depositor funds between 2015 and 2018, using various entities he owned or controlled.
These included transfers from customer fixed deposit accounts to Beige Capital Asset Management, the creation of a fictitious savings and loans account to facilitate transactions, and other alleged manipulations involving companies within the Beige Group.
However, the court found that the prosecution had failed to provide compelling evidence to back its claims. Despite the scale and seriousness of the accusations, the judge determined that the facts presented did not warrant a conviction.
