The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of embattled gold dealership firm, Menzgold Ghana Limited, Nii Armah Amartefio has described the Circuit Court's decision to grant NAM1 bail as a good omen.
CEO of Menzgold Nana Appiah Mensah popularly known as NAM1 has been granted a bail of ¢1bn.
NAM1 was at the Accra Circuit Court today where he is standing trial for allegedly defrauding 16,000 people of more than GH¢1.6 billion.
PRO Nii Armah Amartefio says they are happy about the bail because it will allow them to pursue their $39m which they will use to pay customers.
"Since this issue started we have remained focused and we made commitments to our customers that definitely we will pay them their principal and today our lawyer raised the same issue and explained that NAM1 went to Dubai mainly to chase the $39m owed him and he won his case there, so immediately that money hits our accounts we will fulfil the promise we made to our customers, so this bail is the first step to allow us solve our problems. Now we will sit with our boss and put together plans of how we can pay our customers," he told Joy FM.
NAM1 was granted bail but is to present 5 surities, three of whom must be justified. The hearing continues on August 12, 2019.
It is the case of the state that the embattled CEO, who returned to Accra on Thursday July 11, 2019 after months of detention in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, contravened sections of the Banks and Specialised Deposits Taking Act, 930 and the Criminal Offences Act while operating Menzgold and its sister company, Brew Marketing.
He has been charged with two counts of abetment to defraud by false pretense and two counts of abetment to carry out banking business without licence, contrary to Section 6 (1) of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930).
Two of his companies — Brew Marketing Consult and Menzgold Ghana Limited — represented by him, have each been charged with defrauding by false pretence, contrary to sections 20 (1) and 13 (1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
The two companies have also been charged with carrying out a deposit-taking business without a licence, contrary to Section 6 (1) of Act 930.
Background
Menzgold folded up last year after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered it to suspend its operations with the public. Several efforts by the customers targeted at the company to get their monies have failed to yield any positive results.
According to the Commission, Menzgold did not have the license to trade in gold collectibles and that doing so was in contravention of the Securities Industry Act, 2016 (Act 929).
The court is hearing a criminal case that says NAM1 allegedly defrauded 16,000 people of more than GH¢1.6 billion.
It is arguably the biggest defrauding case since 1995, when Managing Director of the Pyram Business Consultancies, Tanko Rahman Shadow defrauded several hundred.
Customers have held several demonstrations in an attempt to retrieve their locked up cash but to no avail.
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