UK Bank Apologises to Asante King

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, King of Asante, Ghana
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, King of Asante, Ghana

The Ghana International Bank has admitted it erred with some claims it made against the Asantehene as part of its defense in a case before a UK employment tribunal.

The Bank is in court defending why its dismissal of an official, Mark Frank Arthur over a transaction is justified.

Mr Arthur had sued the Bank after he was dismissed for accepting to deposit £350,000 into the Asantehene’s account in the UK.

He admitted before the tribunal he accepted the cash from Otumfuo Osei Tutu II without following the anti-money laundering regulations because of the King’s status.

But the Bank in its statement of defence Wednesday said its checks revealed the Asantehene’s diplomatic passport had expired.

It also said the money in question was transferred from Zambia’s capital Lusaka under suspicious circumstances.

The judge had scheduled Thursday for his ruling but he had to postponed it to Monday after the Bank retracted some of its earlier claims.

Lead counsel for the Bank reportedly told the court their latest checks have revealed Otumfuo’s diplomatic passport had not expired.

The lawyer also said the Bank’s claim that the money was transacted from Lusaka under “dodgy” circumstances was inaccurate.

UK-based ABN radio’s Vincent Owusu Appiah told Evans Mensah on Joy FM’s Top Story the judge shook his head after the Bank rendered the apology.

The reporter said lawyers for Mr Arthur maintained their client did nothing wrong when he deposited the money on behalf of the King.

There are claims of bad blood between Mr Arthur and the Chief Executive of the Bank, John Mensah who is said to have authorised the transaction.

An employee of the Bank, Raymond Sowah reportedly said the transaction was duly approved by the appropriate officials.

“He proved that the transaction was genuine so they don’t see why Mr Mensah should go and report the matter,” the ABN radio reporter said of the employee.

Meanwhile, the Concerned Youth of Asante in the Ashanti Region of Ghana said the publication that appeared in a UK-based news portal citing Otumfuo Osei Tutu II in a money laundering scandal is spurious.

A statement issued Wednesday evening by the Concerned Youth of Asante stated that its President, Nana Dr Agyenim Boateng, is “convinced that the news is cooked to degrade the name of  His Royal Majesty of the Asante kingdom.”

The revered Asantehene is reported to have handed £350,000 cash to a banker, Mark Arthur, to be deposited on his behalf at the Ghana International Bank in the UK.

Read the full statement released by the Ashanti Region-based youth association.

ALLEGED MONEY LAUNDERING SAGA LEVELLED AGAINST THE ASANTE KING BOGUS….CYA

The president of the Concerned Youth of Asante, a pressure group in the Ashanti region ,Nana Dr Agyenim Boateng has issued a statement to rubbish the alleged $350,000 money laundering saga levelled against the Asante monarch, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II  as reported by a UK based Telegraph portal as bogus which has been  political motivated to tarnish the image of the  great Asante Kingdom.

H, however, commended the attitude characterized by the media in the  Ashanti region of being mute over the alleged money laundering scandal in the United Kingdom that has mentioned the name of  Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

Gyataba indicated that, considering the nature of the story as reported by the UK based online portal, he is much convinced that the news is cooked to degrade the name of  His Royal Majesty of the Asante kingdom.

According to him, Manhyia Palace has it own say on the story but as president of CYA, he knows Otumfuo Osei Tutu II respect the rules and regulations of foreign laws and would never violate any foreign laws because he is the occupant of the golden stool.

Though the  King of the Asante kingdom is yet to respond to the issue when  he returns from his current trip abroad.But Gyataba indicated, as a grandson of the golden stool he has every right to defend  Asantehene in this crucial time that some political apparatchiks wants to belittle His(otumfuo) kingdom.

He said, in 2012 this same stomach politicians tarnished the high won reputation of the Asantehene by telling the whole world that Otumfuo influenced the electoral commission of Ghana in the 2012 general elections.

The report which emerged in the UK-based Telegraph online portal claimed a top banker in the country lost his job after receiving a huge amount of cash for savings for the Otumfuo, a practice frowned upon by the UK laws.But Gyataba deduced that Otumfuo has respect for the laws of the UK and would not use his power as the Ghanaian king to flout the rules of the United Kingdom.

African Eye Report/Myjoyonline

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