The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has frozen assets of the founder of the defunct First Trust Savings and Loans and Ideal Finance, Nii Kotei Dzani.

According to the EOCO lawyer, Abu Issah, 41 bank accounts, vehicles and other landed properties of the Council of State member has been seized to hasten processes to retrieve depositors’ funds that have been locked up with the companies for months.

First Trust Savings and Loans and Ideal Finance were part of the financial institutions which had their license revoked by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) as part of its initiative to clean up the banking sector in the country.

Since the collapse of the institutions, customers have not been able to retrieve their deposits and investments.

EOCO, however, invited Mr Kotei Dzani for questioning on three allegations which are; paying GH₵ 23 million to a client, allegedly stealing a 200-acre land from Ideal Finance, and unlawfully using Ideal Finance funds to build ‘Camp Tsaetse’, a resort in Ada.

Meanwhile, an Accra High Court dismissed an application filed by Mr Dzani to stop EOCO from investigating him over the collapse of Ideal Finance.

Mr Dzani argued that EOCO was essentially harassing him in a way that made ‘nonsense’ of his status as a member of the Council of State.

But the court presided over by Justice Afia Serwah Asare Botwe, ruled in favour of EOCO that its dealings with Mr Dzani has been fair and at all times acted within the mandate of its establishing law.

She said Mr Dzani’s position as a Council of State member or prominent businessman does not prevent him from investigations from properly mandated statutory bodies, thus, dismissing Mr Dzani’s application for an injunction.

The injunction’s dismissal would pave way for EOCO to proceed with its investigations of the businessman over allegations of money laundering and tax evasion in the collapse of the finance house.