UT Bank Collapse: MP Denies Taking GHC30m Loan

The Member of Parliament for Efutu in the Central Region has denied receiving an under-collateralised ¢30 million loan from the defunct UT Bank.

Alexander Afenyo Markin’s response comes after a report on the collapsed UT and Capital Banks said the loan he was supposed to have taken flouted prudential regulations.

The report revealed that four subsidiaries of Excel Courier, a company which Mr Afenyo Markin was supposedly the main shareholder received the under-collateralised loan from the bank.

The commentary on the transaction also said the MP was “a Politically Exposed Person (PEP),” a term that suggests that it would be risky to give out loans to such persons.

In financial regulation, a person described as PEP generally presents a higher risk of default by virtue of their position and the influence that they may hold.

The value of the collateral Mr Afenyo Markin’s company presented for the ¢30,839, 319.17 loan was ¢990,000.

But the MP says the report is inaccurate.

He told Emefa Apawu on Joy News’ Top Story that although he was a shareholder of the company, he was not a majority shareholder.

He also said Excel Courier did not procure a loan from UT Bank, adding “whoever prepared the report, did that on the wrong premise.”

He explained that “Excel Courier and UT Logistics had a collateral management agreement in respect of its bauxite operations, whereupon UT Logistics appointed an officer as the controlling entity in the agreement.

“The inability to continue repayment of an outstanding ¢4 million was as a result of non-payment from Ghana Bauxite Company Limited in excess of ¢5.5 million under the guise of a supposed tax exemption,” he continued.

Mr Afenyo Markin further clarified that Excel Courier pursued the issue legally.

The Accra High Court – Commercial Division – in its ruling, he stated, said Excel Courier did not have the capacity to pursue the loan because it was within the jurisdiction of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to do so.

“The nature of the transaction are such that, UT was doing the clearing and Excel was supposed to invoice and if you know the VAT system, when you pay there are input and output and once you have paid and then you invoice and Bauxite does not pay, it becomes cost to you and when you put all together we had the excess claims and Bauxite was not paying.

“If Bauxite had paid and we had done the reconciliation, Excel would not owe UT and this is a fact known to UT officials,” he said.

He indicated that UT Bank was not the only bank Excel had these issues with.

He said as a result of the Ghana Bauxite Company’s inability to stick to the terms of the agreement, Excel faced similar problems with the other banks it went into similar contracts with.

According to Mr Afenyo-Markin, some of the loans are still being pursued and it baffles him that he is being accused of defaulting on the terms of a loan he never took.

“As an MP I never went for any loan so if any report says that a Politically Exposed Person went for a loan or the management of UT did not do due diligence that is not correct. The transaction was on the 20 December 2004 and it run over a number of years.

“It was a collateral management transaction that parties were involved in. It has nothing to do with a loan that I had executed as the main shareholder. I am not the main shareholder of Excel neither am I the main shareholder of Western Investment,” he stated.

By:  Myjoyonline.com