The Deputy Attorney General has justified the settlement reached between the state and William Ato Essien, founder of the defunct Capital Bank. 

Mr Alfred Tuah-Yeboah said the accused person could have been found not guilty at the end of the trial.

The Deputy A-G also added even if the judge had found him guilty, the judge may not imprison him. 

Speaking on Newsfile on Saturday, he urged calm amongst the citizenry. 

He said they did what was in the best interests of the state and the entire citizenry. 

“What is happening now is what I call post facto arguments. Why the post facto argument? We are assuming that Ato Essien was guilty at the time he even made that offer and you also look at people having the opinion that even if Ato Essien was found guilty, automatically, he was going to be sentenced to prison.

"And that assumption was quite dangerous because a judge sitting on a case like this which is a second-degree felony may even choose not to prison the accused if he finds him guilty and it is also possible that the judge could have found himself not guilty,” he said. 

An Accra High Court on Tuesday, December 13, accepted the terms of the settlement reached between the state and William Ato Essien, founder of defunct Capital Bank.

This was after an earlier rejection of the proposed settlement by the court.

Mr Essien was charged with the offence of conspiracy to steal, stealing and money laundering.

However, in court on Tuesday, state prosecutors and lawyers for Ato Essien advanced arguments to convince the court that the terms of the settlement reached between the two parties is the best deal for the state.

Per the agreement, Mr Essien has already paid an amount of ¢30 million out of the ¢90 million he has agreed to pay.

However, some Ghanaians and institutions have expressed their disappointment in the settlement arrived at.