NAM 1 ‘temporary freedom’ continues as judge takes leave

Embattled CEO of Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah, took another walk of temporary freedom out of the courtroom on Wednesday as the court adjourned the case over the judge’s leave. 

“The judge [Evelyn Asamoah] is on leave so we have been instructed to adjourn all the cases for today, [Wednesday],” the clerk informed court patrons.

The prosecution and lawyers of NAM 1, however, failed to make an appearance prior to the court clerk’s announcement.

But the businessman was in court.

It is the second consecutive time within a month NAM 1’s case,  in which he is accused of defrauding customers of his gold dealership company.

This time, it will be recalled on December 16.

At the last adjourned date, the prosecution, led by ASP Slyvester Asare, told the court that the Menzgold CEO’s case has been forwarded to the Attorney General department for advice.

The prosecution is counting on the Attorney General’s advice to put a watertight case before the court.

NAM 1 was initially charged with abetment of crime, defrauding by false pretences, carrying on a deposit-taking business without licence, sale of minerals without a licence, unlawful deposit-taking, and money laundering.

It is alleged that the accused had taken various sums of money, totalling GH¢1.6 billion from customers.

Facts

The facts of the case, as presented by ASP Asare, were that in October 2018, the police received a complaint from about 16,000 people that Menzgold had convinced them to invest GH¢1.68 billion in a gold purchase scheme that yielded 10% monthly interest.

According to the prosecution, the complainants said their money were locked up and that they could not find Nana Appiah Mensah and the other principal officers of the company.

The prosecutor said investigations revealed that Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult were incorporated as limited liability companies in 2013 and 2016, respectively.

Menzgold, he said, obtained a license from the Minerals Commission in August 2016 to purchase and export gold from small-scale miners, and that in order to successfully engage in the business, Nana Mensah founded Brew Marketing Consult to be a gold buying agent.

ASP Asare said although Menzgold was licensed to purchase gold, it was not licensed by the Minerals Commission to trade in gold.

Notwithstanding the lack of such a licence, he said, Menzgold went public after its incorporation and invited the public to deposit money for a fixed period with interest, on the pretext of gold purchasing.

The prosecutor said further investigations revealed that the three accused persons were the directors and principal officers of Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult.

Released

Nana Appiah Mensah was released from police custody on August 17, 2019, after meeting his revised bail conditions.

Earlier, the court had varied the bail conditions to allow for five sureties to guarantee his bail without showing evidence of having properties worth the GH¢1 billion bail sum.

The court, however, refused a request by counsel for Nana Appiah for a reduction in the bail sum from GH¢1 billion to GH¢20 million.

The court had ordered, on July 26, 2019, that three of the five sureties should show justification, meaning they must show proof that they had properties or interests worth the GH¢1 billion bail sum.

As part of the bail conditions, he is also to report to the Ghana Police Service every Wednesday.