The Attorney General has filed fresh charges at the High Court against embattled Chief Executive Officer of Menzgold Ghana Limited, Nana Appiah Mensah popularly known as (NAM1) and two others.
The latest charge sheet filed at the preferred a total of 39 counts against NAM1, his firms Menzgold Company Limited and Brew Marketing Consult Limited.
The latest charge sheet filed on Wednesday, August 30, 2023 with case numbered CR/0411/2023, was signed by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa.
The 39 counts comprised of a count each of selling gold contrary to section 99 (1) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703, Operating a deposit-taking business without a license contrary to section (1) and 22 (1) of the Banking and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930) and Inducement to invest contrary to section 344 of the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992),
The others include 22 counts of Defrauding by false pretense contrary to section 131 (1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), seven counts of fraudulent breach of trust contrary to section 128 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and seven counts of Money Laundering contrary to section 1(2)(a)(i) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044).
NAM1 and his two companies are expected to respond to the charges before a vacation judge later in September.
the case at the Circuit Court of which NAM1 had appeared 36 times in court without trial would be abandoned.
Brief facts
The brief fact states that, the 2nd accused person (A2), Menzgold Ghana Limited and the 3rd accused person (A3), Brew Marketing Consult Limited, are sister companies owned by the 1st accused person (A1), Nana Appiah Mensah alias NAM1.
It added that, Menzgold was first registered as Menzbank Ghana Company Limited in 2013 whereas Brew Marketing Comsult Limited was registered in December 2016.
It said, NAM1 is a director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult and also majority shareholder of both companies.
It stated that NAM1 operated Menzgold as a deposit-taking business under the guise of gold trading, without the requisite licence.
BoG public notice
According to the Prosecution, on March 11, 2015, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) issued a public notice to the effect that Menzbank was an unlicensed deposit- taking institution.
It said, NAM1, in a bid to circumvent the notice of BoG, changed the company’s name from Menzbank to Menzbanc.
It explained that, sometime in 2017, NAM1 further changed the company’s name from Menzbank to Menzgold Ghana Company Limited.
The facts state that, the business module of NAM1 was that Brew Marketing Consult sold gold/gold collectibles/ gold dore to the public for the purpose of investing same in Menzgold, when Brew Marketing Consult did not have a license to sell gold.
Breach of restrictions
The Prosecution stated that, on August 22, 2016, the Minerals Commission, granted Menzgold a-three-year licence to purchase and export gold.
It said, the terms of the license stipulated that Brew Marketing Consult was to purchase gold from small-scale miners for export only.
