Executive Officer (CEO) of embattled gold dealership company,
Menzgold Ghana Limited, will make his third court appearance in
Dubai on Thursday, February 14, where he is facing a
misdemeanor charge over a US$23 million deal, gone bad.
Nana Appiah Mensah, alias NAM 1 is currently being held on
remand at the Al Barsha police cell.
The criminal charge of a misdemeanor in Dubai is equivalent to
a Second Degree Felony in Ghana and if found guilty he could
spend up to two years in prison.
A source familiar with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) justice
system told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) he could also face
civil charges from the complainant, who is seeking to retrieve 23
million dollars and his failure to pay that money could earn him
an additional three-year jail term.
Back home the Economic and Organised Crime Organisation
(EOCO), has frozen the properties of Menzgold and its
associated companies.
Nana Appiah Mensah
Menzgold is holding up the investments of thousands of
customers, who have since September, last year, been unable to
access both their interests and principal.
A Dubai-based businessman reported Nana Appiah and eight of
his business partners, to the Dubai Police for fraud in May 2018.
Their names were, consequently, put on the UAE’s Police list of
Wanted People on May 24, 2018.
Unaware of this, Nana Appiah responded to an invitation from
the complainant to Dubai, but on his arrival, on Friday, December
7, he was arrested at the airport when he presented his passport
for immigration formalities. He was first sent to court on
Wednesday, January, 30.
The news of Nana Appiah’s arrest in Dubai came to light after
the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police
Service secured a warrant of arrest from an Accra Circuit court on
Wednesday, January 9, for his arrest on charges of defrauding by
false pretenses and money laundering.
This was preceded by media reports that he had violated the
terms of the bail granted by the Bureau of National
Investigations, which was investigating him and he could not be
traced.
Meanwhile, some of Nana Appiah’s anguished customers had
brought up a case against him in court over the inability of
Menzgold to pay their returns or principal, since September
2018.
The company was paying between seven and 10 percent in
monthly interest rates on investments, but both the Bank of
Ghana and the Security and the Exchanges Commission (SEC)
warned Ghanaians over the risk of their investments, likening it
to a Ponzi scheme.
The SEC, subsequently, directed Menzgold to stop receiving
deposits, amidst protests from both the company and its
customers.
According to EOCO, though it was also investigating Menzgold
for a possible breach of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-
Taking Institution Act, 2016, (Act 930) as reported to it by the
Bank of Ghana (BoG), there was a lack of cooperation on the
side of its boss.
A fact-finding delegation sent by the Government reported that
the Emirati authorities would make Nana Appiah available to
their Ghanaian counterparts upon the final determination of his
case.
A joint EOCO and Ghana Police statement, issued after the visit
on Friday, January on 18, said he cooperated with the delegation
and provided the security and legal officers an extensive
statement to assist in their investigations into the Menzgold
saga for the requisite action to be taken.
The statement, jointly signed by Assistant Commissioner of
Police (ACP) David Eklu, the Director-General of the Public
Affairs Directorate of the Ghana Police Service and Mr Abu
Issah, acting Head of the Legal and Prosecution outfit of EOCO,
pledged the resolve of the two bodies to continue their
investigations and processes to bring a resolution to the matter.