The Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service is yet to formally charge and put embattled boss of gold dealership company, Menzgold before a court in Ghana because the suspect, Nana Appiah Mensah also known as NAM1 is facing other charges in the United Arab Emirates.
The CID boss, Maame Tiwaa Addo-Danquah at a press briefing on Tuesday said until the case in Dubai ends, the Ghana police service cannot get hold of Nana Appiah Mensah.
She said NAM1 was granted bail last week, [25th March 2019] but was rearrested by the Dubai Police and will only be released to Ghana authorities after the Dubai case is concluded.
“On the 4th of March, 2019 NAM1 was granted bail and there were some conditions for his bail. On 25th of March, he was able to execute the bail and his lawyers obtained the letter for his release. Due to the red alert notice on him, he was rearrested on the instructions of INTERPOL. The Dubai police have gone ahead to obtain a local warrant of arrest based on the INTERPOL red notice. He is currently in custody at a Dubai Police station and that case, even though he is on bail. They will continue to produce him before the court until that case is over before he is handed over to Ghana. We are in touch with the Dubai Police and everything is on course.
Several protests have been held by aggrieved customers of Menzgold to demand the arrest and punishment of the embattled CEO but not much attention has been given to the customers who have accused the government of neglect and being insensitive to their concerns.
Reports emerged that Nana Appiah Mensah’s arrest in Dubai was linked to a separate business deal that went bad involving him and an Emirati national worth over $20 million.
An Accra Circuit Court in January issued a warrant for the arrest for Nana Appiah Mensah, known NAM1.
He has been accused of the offence of defrauding by false pretence contrary to section 131 of Act 29/60.
Two other individuals, Benedicta Appiah and Rose Tetteh, are also to be arrested by the police.
According to a private legal practitioner, Gabby Asare Otchere Darko, a known figure in the governing New Patriotic Party, Mr. Appiah Mensah was arrested in Ghana but absconded while on bail.
The warrant came on the back of a demonstration in the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi, by some angry Menzgold customers.
Menzgold’s challenges
In 2018, over two hundred customers of Menzgold customers besieged the premises of the company’s head office at Dzorwulu to demand payment of their locked up investments.
On December 19, some 100 retired and active police officers at the Kasoa Divisional Police Command in the Central Region also filed a writ at the Accra High Court against the company.
Menzgold was asked to suspend its gold trading operations with the public by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to the SEC, Menzgold had been dealing in the purchase and deposit of gold collectables from the public and issuing contracts with guaranteed returns with clients, without a valid license from the Commission.
This, the SEC said was in contravention of “section 109 of Act 929 with consequences under section 2016 (I) of the same Act.”
The company was however cleared to continue its “other businesses of assaying, purchasing gold from small-scale miners and export of gold.”
Despite initial protests, Menzgold complied with the directive. It has however failed to fully pay its numerous aggrieved customers the value on their gold deposits as well as their entire investments.
Call for government’s intervention
A lot of Ghanaians had called for government’s intervention in dealing with Menzgold’s founder who has failed to pay back monies to his customers.
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By: Jonas Nyabor | citinewsroom.com | Ghana
