NAM1's actions 'very insulting' - Clinton

The lawyer for some aggrieved customers of Menzgold Ghana Limited, Amanda Akuokor Clinton, has described as insulting, assertions by the acting Communication Director of the gold dealership firm, Nii Armah Amarteifio that the company’s CEO, Nana Appiah Mensah, is out of the country looking for money to pay his customers’ extra values and principal investments.

Ms Clinton was speaking to Benjamin Akakpo on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class91.3FM on Friday, 11 January 2019.

The lawyer for close to a thousand Menzgold clients who are living outside Ghana, wondered how a young man like NAM1 “can take millions of dollars from the public”, and “have the audacity to do whatever he wants with that money to the extent that he can, all of a sudden, say: ‘Well, I’m not going to tell you where the money is or why we can’t give you the money as promised, but it’s out of the country and I’m going to look for some of it out of the country. It’s very insulting to our laws and to our ability to govern our own country that someone can be so brave.”

Ms Clinton continued: “It’s really not a personal vendetta against NAM1, it’s about seizing his money, tracing assets and since five months have passed since government’s actions, it’s just that we hope that as much can be retrieved as possible.

“And that NAM1 pays his justice without having a public relations officer say he’s out there looking for money. It’s almost insulting. This is why it’s good to have institutions regularised, if not regularised, shut down”, she noted.

Meanwhile, a warrant was issued on Wednesday, 9 December 2019 for the arrest of all directors of Menzgold including Nana Appiah Mensah (NAM1), his wife Rose Tetteh, his sister Benedicta Appiah, and one Abigail Mensah, among others.

The court warrant explained that the suspects are to help with investigations relating to “defrauding by false pretences contrary to section 131 of 29/60”.

Menzgold has been struggling to pay its customers after it was asked to stop operating its gold vault market by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over regulatory infractions.

In a related development, Nii Armah Amateifio, the acting Director of Communication of Menzgold, has said the life of the CEO is under threat, thus, the opacity surrounding his whereabouts.

According to Ms Clinton, 1.8 million Ghanaians have their monies locked up with Menzgold. She said as much as $200 million dollars was invested in Menzgold by clients during the company’s five years of active operation before being shut down by SEC.

Since that period, NAM1 has not been seen in Ghana. He only tweets or speaks to his radio station, Zylofon FM via telephone.

There have been claims by some of the company’s aggrieved customers as well as certain people who claim to be close to him, that he is hiding in South Africa or Nigeria.

The Ghanaian authorities have alerted Interpol Global about NAM1.