Deputy Attorney General, Joseph Kpemka has told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that CEO of gold dealership company, Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah can only be extradited if he wins his court case in Dubai.
Nana Appiah Mensah, popularly known as NAM 1, won a case of fraud against him in Dubai earlier this month.
The Dubai-based businessman who sued him has, however, since filed an appeal.
Speaking at the Public Accounts Committee sitting today [Thursday], Mr Kpemka said Nana Appiah Mensah can only be extradited after he is exonerated by the court.
“The role of EOCO in the NAM 1 issue was to locate and preserve the access. Recently we were given a directive that all related cases of NAM 1 should be handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department so currently they are responsible for investigation and management.
“There was a decision and he was not convicted, he was acquitted but now by the laws of the Emirates, the complainants had 30 days within which to appeal and they have since appealed. Unless the appeal is determined, I am not able to tell you a definite thing. When the appeal is determined and he wins then he becomes a free man and from there, the office of EOCO and the CID who are in charge of the matter will take the necessary steps to ensure he comes home.”
Mr. Kpemka recently defended NAM 1, saying claims that he had duped a businessman in Dubai were all false.
Mr. Kpemka said he met with Nana Appiah Mensah for the first time when he visited him in a “one on one” meeting after he was granted permission by security officials in Dubai.
This was possible because Mr. Kpemka was part of a government delegation dispatched to the UAE, to work towards his possible extradition to Ghana.
Speaking in an interview on Accra-based, Zylofon FM, which is coincidentally owned by NAM 1, Mr. Kpemka disclosed that he met with NAM 1 in the United Arab Emirates and they had a frank conversation on all that had transpired on his arrest in Dubai, over claims that he [NAM 1] duped a businessman to the tune of $61m.
Among other things, Mr. Kpemka explained that the narrative in the media about NAM 1 duping a businessman was false.