Otumfuo’s Money Laundering case has finally ended in the dismissal of Mr. Arthur…
The staff of Ghana International Bank (GHIB), Mr. Mark Frank Arthur whose misconduct got the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II entangled in a money laundering case has finally been dismissed by his employers. This was after the London employment tribunal upheld the GHIB’s decision to dismiss Frank Arthur on the grounds of breaching the Bank’s internal policies and procedures.
This latest development was disclosed in a statement released by the GHIB which reads: “The Tribunal was satisfied that in doing what he did, Mark Arthur had committed misconduct of sufficient seriousness that amounted to a fundamental breach of his employment contract entitling the Bank to terminate that contract without notice.”
Mr. Arthur who was a senior staff of the GHIB, was dismissed by the bank for sidelining anti-money laundering regulations while assisting the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II with cash transactions involving about £350,000.
He however, decided to challenge his dismissal at the UK Tribunal on the grounds that it is wrongful and unfair. But in a six-point rebutting defense statement, the GHIB insisted that Arthur’s dismissal was carried out with due fairness.
According to the bank, it terminated Frank Arthur’s employment “for gross misconduct, gross negligence and breach of confidence, and at the end of the hearing won the case as the Tribunal upheld their decision. The London-based Employment Tribunal upheld the bank’s action and dismissed Arthur’s claims of “unfair” and “wrongful” dismissal.
Meanwhile, the Ashanti King has since been cleared of all allegations of money laundering.
The Telegraph, on Tuesday, October 10, 2017, reported that the leader of the Ashanti Kingdom, The Asentehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, in August 2016, summoned one Mark Frank Arthur, a senior executive staff of the Ghana International Bank (GHIB), to his residence in Henley-on-Thames in the UK and handed him a bag containing £199,9600 as well as $200,000 with consecutive serial numbers. Read full story…
Mark Arthur who is from New Barnet, Hertfordshire and holds a dual citizenship of the UK and Ghana, accepted the colossal cash without questioning and deposited it into the King’s personal account at the GHIB City office.
He said Otumfuo only told him the monies were withdrawn from banks in Ghana and brought to the UK. He further revealed that he was also instructed by the Ashanti King to move $200,000 to an account at Standard bank in Jersey. This he told the tribunal, he carried out within hours.
However, a day after accepting the cash and making the transfer to Jersey, the bank reported the transactions to the National Crime Agency as suspicious. The Money laundering alert triggered an investigation by outside accountants Grant Thornton into the illicit deposit and transfer who concluded that Mr. Arthur did not follow laid down bank procedures and anti-money laundering regulations in effecting the transactions, leading to his suspension and subsequent dismissal.
But Mr. Arthur who deemed his dismissal unfair and wrongful, in seeking a redress, sued the GHIB at the Central Employment Appeal Tribunal, London. A case he has finally lost, unfortunately.
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