Nana Appiah Mensah, CEO of gold dealership firm Menzgold Ghana, has called on the government to unfreeze his account and that of Menzgold to enable him settle debts he owed his customers.
He made the appeal at a press conference in Accra on Monday.
He at the press conference clarified issues relating to the current status of the embattled gold dealership firm.
Justifying the legitimacy of the company, Mr. Appiah Mensah stated that they are ready to adhere to the regulatory regime to get the company back on its feet.
He urged the government “to unfreeze our Companies and my personal bank accounts and assets for us to utilise these as vehicles to get productive in order to meet our liabilities, owed to our customers and some business associates in our bid to resolve our liabilities immediately.”
As of now, Brew Marketing Consult, Menzgold and I cannot credit or debit any bank account in Ghana. This is why it is highly imperative to consider this kind request, as I believe, government shares in our resolve and would do all that which is needful in our quest to satisfy the populace, who are our customers.”
The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) froze the bank accounts of Mr. Appiah Mensah in January.
It also secured a court order to freeze properties of Menzgold Ghana Limited as well as other associated companies.
The Menzgold Office Complex, Zylofon Art Complex, Brew Marketing Consult, Star Madrid Football Club, Zylofon Music and media company, Brew Energy Company Limited, G-Tech automobile service were affected by EOCO’s action.
EOCO also listed two properties located at Trassaco Valley, as well as a plot of land near Oak Street at Trassaco Valley, and an uncompleted residence and a 510 acre of land.
Mr. Appiah Mensah has been slapped with 13 counts of defrauding by false pretences, money laundering, abetment and carrying on deposit-taking business without licence contrary to Section 6 (1) of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930).
According to Mr. Appiah Mensah’s charge sheet, he has been accused of defrauding 16,000 customers of about GHc1.68 billion.
The charge sheet indicated that Mr. Appiah Mensah’s two companies — Brew Marketing Consult and Menzgold Ghana Limited; represented by him, have also been charged with defrauding by false pretence, contrary to sections 20 (1) and 13 (1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
Mr. Appiah Mensah’s sister and his wife, Benedicta Appiah and Rose Tetteh, have also been charged with two counts of abetment to defraud by false pretence and two counts of abetment to carry out banking business without a licence, contrary to Section 6 (1) of Act 930.
Prior to his arrival, the Menzgold CEO had spent six months in police custody in the United Arab Emirates due to a criminal case brought against him by a private company in the middle eastern country.
Help us retrieve our $39m from Dubai firm – NAM1 to gov’t
Nana Appiah Mensah at the press conference said the ability of his firm to settle debts owed his customers is among other things dependent on government’s willingness to help the company retrieve some $39 million debt owed him by a Dubai company, Royal Horizon.
“We respectfully pray the Ghanaian authorities to cooperate with us to achieve the following; to assist us to make a full recovery of the amount owed Menzgold by Horizon Royal Diamond in Dubai. As an act of good faith, we are willing to engage the Attorney General’s office on the best possible way for them to aid Menzgold by employing international law and diplomatic relations to ensure we achieve this objective”.