The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has brought forth 39 fresh criminal charges against Nana Appiah Mensah, the CEO of Menzgold Ghana Company Limited.
Nana Appiah Mensah, the CEO of Menzgold Ghana Company Limited, popularly known as NAM 1 to face fresh 39 charges. This move comes after more than 36 court appearances spanning nearly four years without a trial for NAM 1 at the Circuit Court, awaiting the Attorney-General's advice.
As per the available information, Menzgold Ghana Company Limited, initially registered as Menzbank Ghana Company Limited in 2013, and Brew Marketing Consult Ghana Limited, registered in December 2016, are sibling companies owned by NAM 1. He serves as the director and CEO of Menzgold Ghana Company Limited and Brew Marketing Consult Ghana Limited, holding the majority of their shares.
The prosecution alleges that NAM 1 operated Menzgold Ghana Company Limited as a deposit-taking business under the pretense of gold trading, despite lacking the required license. The Bank of Ghana issued a public notice on March 11, 2015, stating that Menzbank was an unlicensed deposit-taking institution. In an attempt to circumvent this notice, NAM 1 changed the company's name from Menzbank to Menzbanc in 2015 and then to Menzgold Ghana Company Limited in 2017.
According to the Attorney-General, Brew Marketing Consult Ghana Limited, under NAM 1's operation, sold gold, gold collectibles, and gold ore to the public for investment purposes, even though they lacked the necessary license to sell gold. In August 2016, the Minerals Commission granted Menzgold a three-year license to purchase and export gold, with the condition that Brew Marketing Consult Ghana Limited could only purchase gold from small-scale miners for export.
However, the prosecution alleges that Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult breached their restricted gold purchase and exportation license by selling gold to individuals in Ghana. They also established a "gold vault market" in 2016, providing the public with a platform to trade in gold and gold collectibles.
Furthermore, the prosecution claims that NAM 1 and Menzgold invited members of the public to purchase gold and gold collectibles from Brew Marketing Consult Ghana Limited and deposit these items with the promise of profits ranging from seven to ten percent. Over 16,000 members of the public deposited significant sums of money under the belief that they were dealing with an authorized deposit-taking business.
In the newly filed charges at the High Court in Accra, NAM 1, along with Menzgold Ghana Company Limited (MGCL) and Brew Marketing Consult Ghana Limited, faces multiple charges, including selling gold without a license, operating an unlicensed deposit-taking institution, inducing investments through false pretenses, fraudulent breach of trust, and money laundering. The prosecution alleges that the accused individuals collected over GH¢1.68 billion from customers under false pretenses, which remains unrecovered.
Additionally, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) directed Menzgold to suspend its operations on September 7, 2018, due to the lack of a license. Many customers who had invested large sums of money with the accused parties were unable to access their investments despite their efforts between November 2016 and March 2019.
Investigations revealed that NAM 1 transferred significant sums of depositors' funds from Menzgold Ghana Company Ltd and Brew Marketing Consult Ltd to Zylofon Media, a company related to him. Substantial sums of money were also withdrawn or transferred into his personal bank account. Some vehicles and gold bars were recovered during the investigations.
NAM 1 is scheduled to appear in court on September 19 of this year.
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