Produce NAM1 Dubai judgement – Clinton to Deputy AG

The lawyer for almost a thousand aggrieved customers of Menzgold Ghana Limited, Ms Amanda Akuokor Clinton, has officially requested Ghana's Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Joseph Dindiok Kpemka, to produce the Dubai court judgement which acquitted and discharged Mr Nana Appiah Mensah (NAM1), the CEO of the embattled Ghana-based gold dealership firm, which has failed to pay its numerous customers their investments since August 2018.

The Ghanaian CEO had gone to Dubai late last year hoping to retrieve some $28 million (now $39 million in current gold value terms) owed Menzgold by a Dubai-based company for gold supply.

He was, however, arrested by the authorities in Dubai in December 2018 following a report lodged against him by the company that he had scammed them of some $51 million dollars.

Reports were rife that the court dismissed the case in favour of NAM1, an event that was confirmed by Mr Kpemka in some media interviews.

However, Ms Clinton, who is seeking to retrieve the locked-up investments of her clients, has, in a letter dated 15 April 2019, requested official confirmation from the Attorney General’s office beyond the WhatsApp and phone calls received by the Deputy AG in that regard, based upon which he subsequently confirmed to the local media that NAM1 had, indeed, been acquitted and discharged by the Dubai court.

“In terms of the WhatsApp message you received about the judgement in favour of Mr Mensah as well as the phone call you made in relation to the judgement, were these messages followed by an official letter from Ghana’s Consul-General’s department in Dubai?” Ms Clinton queried in her letter.

“Can the judgement in Dubai be released to our office or the public? Even if a copy of the judgement cannot be released to our office or the public, have you or your office had sight of the Dubai judgement or received a copy via email or mail?” she further asked.

Additionally, Ms Clinton asked: “Following the 30-day lapse after the judgement, how and when will Mr Mensah be brought back to Ghana by the government and/or Interpol?”

Below is a copy of the letter:

Clinton Consultancy

Legal Practitioners

A: 37 Abeka Road

Accra, Ghana

E:info@clintonconsultancy.com

W: www.clintonconsultancy.com

15th April 2019

Attention: Deputy Minister of Justice Joseph Kpemka

Attorney General’s Department

P.O Box M60

Ministries

Accra, Ghana

Deputy Minister of Justice Joseph Kpemka,

RE; THE ALLEGED ACQUITTAL OF A GHANAIAN NATIONAL BY THE NAME OF MR. NANA APPIAH MENSAH (C.E.O OF MENZGOLD) IN DUBAI, United Arab Emirates-April 2019

My name is Ms. Amanda Akuokor Clinton and I’m a lawyer based in Accra. I represent a number of Menzgold customers regarding their locked up funds with Menzgold Ghana Limited and their sister company Brew Marketing Company.

On Tuesday 9th April 2019 you confirmed to the media in Accra that a Ghanaian national by the name of Mr. Nana Appiah Mensah, who is the Chief Executive Officer of both Menzgold Ghana Limited and Brew Marketing Company, has been acquitted of all fraud-related charges allegedly levied against him in Dubai. You are quoted as saying that: “…I can confirm on authority that he has won the case in Dubai pending any appeal by the complainant in that matter and if there’s no appeal in that case after 30 elapses and his freedom is without questioning” then he can be brought back to Ghana.

I also understand that you received confirmation of this fact via WhatsApp messaging on your phone. Before sharing this information with journalists, you allegedly called the Consulate General’s Office in Dubai to confirm this fact. An official from the Consulate General’s Office in Dubai then allegedly briefed you on Mr. Mensah’s court case in Dubai and his subsequent acquittal.

Given that this is a public interest matter and the Dubai acquittal has possible ramifications in terms of my clients’ case against Mr. Mensah, would it be possible for you to furnish us with:-

1. Confirmation of whether your statement in relation to the judgement in Dubai was an official (and accepted) statement by the government given that: on the 11th April 2019, Ghana Consul-General to Dubai, Ms. Samata Gifty Bukari, rendered an apology to the government for her comment on the C.E.O of Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah. Her comment being: “As soon as he was granted bail Interpol got him arrested. He’s hopeful of being done with the case in Dubai soon, then after he will attend to the several thousands of Menzgold customers because he himself is not a free man. He’s helpless now as he is on remand.”

Ms. Bukari further went on to state that her comments breached a government directive banning all government appointees from speaking on the Menzgold issue. The Consul-General said: “I apologise profusely to government and particularly Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah and the people of Ghana for unknowingly flouting the directive. I retract every bit of my comment.”

2. In terms of the WhatsApp message you received about the judgement in favour of Mr. Mensah as well as the phone call you made in relation to the judgement, were these messages followed by an official letter from Ghana’s Consul-General’s department in Dubai?

a. If so, what was the rank of the person who sent an official letter to your Office?

b. Did this individual have the authority to speak on the matter?

c. Was the letter on an official letter-headed document?

3. Can the judgement in Dubai be released to our Office or the public?

a. Even if a copy of the judgement cannot be released to our office or the public, have you or your office had sight of the Dubai judgement or received a copy via email or mail?

4. Were any Consul-General of Ghana representatives (or other Ghanaian officials) in court during the court trial or the judgement in favour of Mr. Mensah?

5. Following the 30-day lapse after the judgement, how and when will Mr. Mensah be brought back to Ghana by government and/or Interpol?

Our office would like further clarity on the questions posed in order to share with our clients and further advance our strategy in relation to this case.

Given that the questions posed were not asked and responded to during the public briefing on the matter, we kindly ask that you or your Office furnish us with a response for further clarity regarding the matter.

Thanking you in advance for your kind consideration.

Yours Faithfully,

Amanda Akuokor Clinton

Barrister & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana

Clinton Consultancy