Chinese man jailed 15 years for illegal gold deal

A Chinese national resident in Ghana, Chen Zhili, has been jailed for 15 years with hard labour after the Takoradi High Court found him  guilty of trading in gold without the requisite license.

The Court, presided over by His Lordship Justice Dr. Richmond Osei Hwere, on Monday, June 6, 2022,  pronounced the sentence on Chen Zhili,  who had been charged with five counts of offences including “conspiracy to commit crime, namely, buying minerals without licence, buying minerals without licence , abetment of crime, namely, buying minerals without licence, conspiracy to commit crime, namely, selling minerals without licence” and “selling minerals without licence”.

Chen Zhili was  first arrested on June 11, 2020, with three others (one Chinese and two Ghanaians) for purchasing and selling gold without the requisite licenses from either the Minerals Commission or the Precious Minerals Marketing Company Limited (PMMC).

The case was referred to the Tarkwa Circuit Court, where the accused persons pleaded guilty and were fined a total amount of Five Hundred and Fifty-Two Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢552,000.00) or in default, to serve a prison term of between ten (10) and fifteen (15) years with hard labour.

However, the Office of the Attorney-General, Takoradi, filed an application for judicial review at the Sekondi-Takoradi High Court, which ruled that an error of law had been committed by the Circuit Court for the imposition of fines only on the accused persons in breach of clear provisions of statute.

Per the ruling of the Sekondi-Takoradi High Court, Chen was arrested and arraigned before the same Court and was subsequently sentenced to fifteen years in jail with hard labour. Meanwhile, efforts are underway by State Security Agencies to apprehend the other three accused persons.