Customers of defunct gold dealership Menzgold have been assured
that they will soon hear from the embattled Chief Executive Officer of the
company following his release from police custody.
Public Relations Officer
(PRO) of the company, Nii Armah Armatefio said Tuesday that Nana Appiah Mensah needs
a few days to relax and clear his mind after a tumultuous turn of
events with law enforcement agencies shortly after his arrival in Ghana
from Dubai.
“He’s been in police custody for three good
weeks. Now that he is gotten his freedom, I am sure that he needs to rest.
So I am sure he will take some time to rest and after he will hit the road again.”
Expectant customers whose monies have been locked up with the
defunct firm had been pushing for Nana Appiah Mensah’s release, lamenting that
his continued stay in police custody scuttles efforts to get their money.
A few weeks ago, they stormed the
court wielded placards with inscriptions such as “23 people dead in Menzgold
saga”, “suspend criminal charges against NAM 1”, “help NAM 1 to retrieve Dubai
money”, “no money for school fees and medical bills”, among others.
It is estimated that at least
GHS1.6 billion millionhave been locked up in the defunct investment
firm that has now been dismissed as a Ponzi scheme.
The Menzgold PRO is, however,
assuring customers that a press conference will soon be held to address key
concerns of the customers.
“I am sure the customers will also
agree that our Chief Executive Officer needs to rest a bit after which we
are going to arrange for a news conference where he will speak to the media,
the general public and the customers as well – where he will outline the
way forward for the company,” he said.
Freedom
The embattled CEO was released
from police custody after he met the reviewed bail conditions, Tuesday.
Nana Appiah Mensah popularly known
as NAM 1 was released after his lawyers managed to meet the bail
conditions set by an Accra circuit court.
The court at its last hearing had
set bail at ¢1 billion with five sureties.
But Nana Appiah Mensah remained in
custody as his lawyers were unable to meet the bail conditions.
Last week lead lawyer filed an
application urging the court to reduce the bail condition to ¢5 million.
However, in court Tuesday, the
presiding judge ruled that persons who have pledged to take responsibility if
Menzgold CEO fails to show up in court to stand trial must no longer show
evidence of owning properties worth ¢1 billion.
Background
NAM1 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.
He arrived in Ghana on July
11, 2019, where he was picked up by security operatives at the Kotoka
International Airport and sent to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID)
of the Ghana Police Service for interrogation after spending several months in
Dubai in another legal battle.
Nana Appiah Mensah has been
accused of defrauding his customers of about GHS1.68 billion.
According to the charge sheet, the
money was from 16,000 people who invested a total of GHc1,680,920,000 in the
company.
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.
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.
The charge sheet explained that
the accused persons purportedly aided Brew Marketing Consult and Menzgold to
defraud the customers.
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