Politics of Tuesday, 9 May 2023

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

US court sets aside Dr. Philip Bannor's alimony case

Dr Philip Bannor, Registrar for HeFRA Dr Philip Bannor, Registrar for HeFRA

The Tennessee Court of Appeals, US, has set aside the alimony and the matrimonial debts awarded against Dr. Bannor in the case with his wife, Dora Bannor.

Earlier, a circuit court judge, Jeffrey Hollingsworth, awarded a $915,000 charge against the former aspirant.

“The court has effectively set aside the alimony, the matrimonial debts awarded against Dr Bannor, and estate amounting to about $915,000 awarded earlier against Dr Phillip Bannor has all been set aside by the court of appeals,” document sighted by GhanaWeb read.

Earlier, GhanaWeb had reported on how The Chronicle had recalled its use of the word, ‘indictment,’ in the case of their client.

The apology by The Chronicle newspaper read, “According to the lawyers, an indictment in our common law jurisdiction and US jurisprudence connotes criminality that is established beyond an initial prima facie threshold, therefore, an indicted person is one charged in a court with a serious criminal offense.

“They contend that Dr. Philip Bannor had never been charged or indicted anywhere in the world with a criminal offense, and that what transpired in the US court was a pure civil suit.”

Background

The judge who presided over his case, Jeffrey W. Hollingsworth, granted divorce to Dr. Bannor's wife, Dora Bannor, after a five-year divorce trial over him not dealing fairly with about 14 banks.

The court indicated that the banks to which he is indebted include Synovus Bank, Matheney Street and Associates, Sun Trust Bank, the Pinnacle Bank, Cure Star Health Associates, PayPal, Colutta/Synovus Bank, City Bank Credit Card, Chase Credit Card, AMEX Credit Card, Grant, Konvalinks, and Harrison, Hayseth Financial Services, LLC, Silverdale Baptist Academy, and Lynn Davenport.

In the court’s Memorandum Order and Final Decree, the judge said that Dr. Bannor fled the US to Ghana with the majority of the properties from his marriage and accused him of lacking credibility because he abandoned his wife and children and fled to Ghana.

The judge is also said to have said that Dr. Bannor failed to honour the $1,343 per month child support for his children since 2018, which was increased to $1,507.26 on March 16, 2018.

It was also stated that Dr. Bannor invested over $300,000 of this marital asset in the collapsed MenzGold.

AE/OGB