NAM1 bail condition not favourable – Menzgold

Managers of embattled gold dealership firm Menzgold have described as “unfavourable” the bail condition set by the court for the release of their CEO, Nana Appiah Mensah popularly known as NAM1.

NAM1 was admitted to a GHS1-billion bail bond by an Accra Circuit Court presided over by Jane Harriet Akweley Quaye, on Friday, 26 July 2019.

He is to provide five sureties, three of which must be justified and also present himself to the police every Wednesday.

NAM1, who, together with four others, was facing eight counts of defrauding by false pretence, now faces 13 counts after the prosecution amended the charge sheet and added five more counts.

Reacting to the bail condition Menzgold in a statement said, “as far as we are concerned, the bail conditions are not FAVOURABLE at all but we are determined to meet it. We think that figure is totally outrageous, especially when the figure involved in terms of debt we owe is far less than GHS1.68bn.”

Below is the full statement:

Update on the Bail Condition

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The judge accepted the bail application submitted by lead counsel Kwame Akuffo and granted bail in monetary terms of GHC 1b ( $185m), 5 sureties with three to be JUSTIFIED.

The reason for that lofty monetary sum was because according to the Prosecutor, the first and second accused has defrauded 16,000 to the amount of GHc1.68bn.

Although our lead counsel debunked that outrageous figures…the judge on the face of the prosecution case admitted or accepted that figure. Which means that in granting the bail, that amount (GHc1.68bn) forms the bases for the bail condition, hence the Ghc1bn.

GHS 1bn, Five sureties and 3 to be justified

As far as we are concerned, the bail conditions are not FAVOURABLE at all but we are determined to meet it. We think that figure is totally outrageous, especially when the figure involved in terms of debt we owe is far less than GHC1.68bn.

What it means is that five people must sign the bail conditions and three out of the five must show proof of physical infrastructure or properties amounting to or close to GHc1bn.

If the three sureties are able to provide all landed documents or properties amounting or close to that figure, the other two will just sign to fulfil the bail conditions.

Why Chief is still in Custody

As at Friday when the bail was given, the Team have been able to get all five sureties. The three to be justified have also submitted various documents to prove ownership. However, submitting the documents is NOT the end of the process. They must go to the Lands Commission, and a SEARCH needs to be carried to AUTHENTICATE the ownership as stipulated on the documents provided. Letters of covers must be attached from the Lands Commission on all the search. When that is done and presented to CID, they will also have it run their own search to confirm the ownership and then do VALIDATION and VALUATION.

Remember all three landed properties must amount to or be close to Ghc1bn. So, the valuer needs to do the valuation to check if all three justified sureties amount to the Ghc1bn.

As we speak, all three landed properties have been submitted by the Team. The search, validation and valuation are in PROCESS.

What Next:

The Team is currently waiting for the search, valuation and validation to be completed by both the Lands Commission Officers and the CID. And when that is done, the Team together with the Police CID will go to the Court Registrar to summit the ORIGINAL copies and that will be the end of the PROCESS.

Communication Unit

MenzGold GHANA