Menzgold CEO faces charges of misdemeanor in UAE

The embattled Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Menzgold Ghana Limited, Nana Appiah Mensah, (NAM1) is facing charges of misdemeanor in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) but he would be made available to Ghanaian authorities upon the final determination of his case.

He has, however, cooperated with the Ghanaian delegation, which travelled to the UAE and provided the security and legal officers an extensive statement to assist in their investigations into the Menzgold saga for the requisite action to be taken.

The Ghana Police Service and the Economic and Organised Crime Organisation (EOCO), who announced this in a joint press statement, in Accra, said Mr Appiah Mensah was expected to next appear in a UAE Court on February 2, 2019.

The statement was jointly signed by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) David Eklu, the Director-General of the Public Affairs Directorate of the Ghana Police Service and Mr Abu Issah, acting Head of the Legal and Prosecution outfit of EOCO, and copied to the Ghana News Agency.

The statement recounted: “Mr Mensah was cooperating with EOCO as part of its investigations into a possible breach of Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institution Act, 2016, (Act 930) as reported to it by the Bank of Ghana (BoG).

"Upon the breakdown of cooperation, EOCO employed other strategies, including the use of associates and collaborating with other security agencies to make him available for further investigations".

It said the Emirati authorities employed similar methods in getting Mr Appiah Mensah to visit the UAE where, he was, subsequently, apprehended.



It gave the assurance that officials of EOCO and Ghana Police Service would continue with investigations and processes aimed at bringing a resolution to the Menzgold saga.

The Ghanaian delegation’s mandate was to determine the nature of the legal processes against the accused person in the UAE and find the most appropriate means by which Ghana could have custody of him to assist with investigations into his company, it said.

The delegation of security and legal officers left Ghana for the UAE from January 16 to 18, 2019 for a fact-finding mission on Menzgold owner's arrest.

The gold dealership company has attracted public attention in recent times following protest by aggrieved customers of the firm whose investments, estimated at millions of Ghana cedis, have been locked up.

The Criminal Investigations Department(CID) of the Ghana Police Service secured warrant of arrest from an Accra Circuit court on Wednesday, January 9, for the arrest of the Menzgold CEO on charges of defrauding by false pretenses and money laundering, after it was reported that he had jumped the terms of his bail granted by the Bureau of National Investigations.

The Security and Exchanges Commission had earlier ordered the Company not to receive new deposits amidst protests from customers.