By Gifty Amofa, GNA
Accra, June 10, GNA – Mrs Sylvia Lawson, former Chief Finance Officer (CFO) of DYI, a subsidiary of the Beige Group (TBG), says the GHC6 million out of the GHC1.2 billion allegedly stolen by Michael Nyinaku was not transferred from TBG but from the First Africa Savings and Loans Limited (FASL).
Mrs Lawson is one of the witnesses in the trial of Michael Nyinaku, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the collapsed Beige bank.
In her evidence-in-Chief, the witness said DYI, a holding company of TBG, which was established to have oversight responsibility over TBG’s interest in commerce and logistics, depended on TBG, the mother company to finance its activities.
The former CFO said as for the GHC6b, it was transferred from FASL, another subsidiary of the TBG because TBG did not have enough funds to pre-finance its activities at the time, thus, TBG borrowed the money from FASL to advance DYI’s needs.
The transfer of the GHC6m to DYI was part of routine transfers made by TBG to DYI whenever it needed funds for its business and it was released following a request to TBG, she explained.
Witness said DYI was a start-up business and she and her team had to spend time developing in house procedures that would assist in managing the investee businesses (the pharmacies and healthcare centres)
She noted that not one cedi of the GHC6b was ever paid to Nyinaku, the accused person.
He is being tried over an alleged theft of GHC1.2 billion from the bank, money laundering and fraudulent breach of trust.
Nyinaku has since denied the charges and he is on bail granted by Mrs Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, an Appeal Court judge with oversight responsibility as a High Court judge.
The funds, disbursed in three tranches between April 20 and June 5, 2018, were invested in healthcare through Pillpoint (pharmaceutical company), to compliment Beigecare limited, also under TBG and health centres, she added.
The defence witness said both DYI and Pillpoint were customers of TBG, adding that when customers went to Pillpoint to buy drugs, Beige bank products (in the name of DYI) were sold by the attendants and its financial affiliates.
The DYI strategised into investing in a chain of pharmacies and healthcare centres so that the outlets would enter agency banking relationship with the bank.
She said the agencies would now have teller implants that offered limited banking services to clients and provided customers acquisition to the bank.
Mrs Lawson said the bank teller implant services were 37 Military Hospital and Korle-bu Teaching Hospital.
The benefit of teller implant was to have inflows that were generated at that service point to constantly deposit in the entity’s account held with the bank, she continued.
GNA