Amend Criminal Code to help us fight money-doublers - BoG

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has called on the state to amend the Criminal Code so the central bank can go after money-doublers because there is no law to take care of that now.

Naa Welbeck Anuonyam, an official at the Financial Stability Department of the BoG, said the central bank cannot go after money-doublers without the necessary amendment of the law.

Ms Anuonyam told members of the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEj) at a training workshop in Koforidua on Sunday, 1 December 2019 that the central bank is inundated with calls to deal with those involved in the act but the regulator lacks the necessary legal backing to do so.

Recently, the Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, asked the BoG to take swift action on persons who are advertising on television stations that they have the ability to double money for their clients through spiritual means.

The minister, who was answering questions during the Upper East Regional Town Hall Meeting in Bolgatanga, urged the central bank to state its position on the issue before matters get out of hand.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah admitted that the situation was worrying and urged both the financial and media regulators to act on it.

However, Ms Welbeck asked: “What law can we use to charge money-doublers when we arrest them?”

“When the person is arrested, his or her lawyer will come, and the question still remains: what charge of law will we use against the person?"

She explained: “To be able to do that, we will need to amend our Criminal Code. The BNI, the Police and EOCO will have to take that up.”