Menzgold case: Judge cautions against delays as prosecution prays for more time

An Accra Circuit Court has said it would be forced to strike out the case involving defunct Menzgold Ghana Limited Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nana Appiah Mensah popularly called NAM1 if the prosecution fails to file the necessary documents to enable the trial to commence.

The court presided over by her Honour Evelyn Asamoah cautioned the prosecution on Tuesday, 2 March 2021 against any further delays in filing all necessary documents.

The prosecution has delayed in filing the necessary documents in order to commence trial.

The prosecutor in the case, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sylvester Asare asked for more time to enable him file his witness statement.

According to the prosecution, there are about 16, 000 persons who fell victim to the company’s scheme thus he needs more time to investigate.

The prosecutor, therefore, prayed the court for more time and not to strike out the case.

The Menzgold CEO was also present in court.

The case has since been adjourned to Thursday, 1 April 2021.

Facts

The facts, as presented by ASP Asare, are that in October 2018, the police received a complaint from about 16,000 people that Menzgold had convinced them to invest GHS1.68 billion in a gold purchase scheme that yielded 10 per cent monthly interest.

According to him, the complainants said their money were locked up and that they could not find Nana Appiah Mensah and the other principal officers of the company.

The prosecutor said investigations revealed that Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult were incorporated as limited liability companies in 2013 and 2016, respectively.

Menzgold, he said, obtained a licence from the Minerals Commission in August 2016 to purchase and export gold from small-scale miners, and that in order to successfully engage in the business, Nana Mensah founded Brew Marketing Consult to be a gold buying agent.

ASP Asare said although Menzgold was licensed to purchase gold, it was not licensed by the Minerals Commission to trade in gold.

Notwithstanding the lack of such a licence, he said, Menzgold went public after its incorporation and invited the public to deposit money for a fixed period with interest, on the pretext of gold purchasing.

The prosecutor said further investigations revealed that the three accused persons were the directors and principal officers of Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult.

Background

NAM1 was released from police custody on August 17, 2019, after meeting his revised bail conditions.

Earlier, the court had varied the bail conditions to allow for five sureties to guarantee his bail without showing evidence of having properties worth the GHS1 billion bail sum.

The court, however, refused a request by counsel for Nana Appiah for a reduction in the bail sum from GHS1 billion to GHS20 million.

Hitherto, the court had ordered, on July 26, 2019, that three of the five sureties should show justification, meaning they must show proof that they had properties or interests worth the GHS1 billion bail sum.

As part of the bail conditions, the Menzgold CEO was ordered to report himself to the Ghana Police Service every Wednesday.  Source: classfmonline.com