Stephen Attipoe, the initial prosecution witness in the trial involving Nana Appiah Mensah, CEO of Menzgold Ghana Limited, disclosed to the Accra High Court that he invested GH¢5.2 million in the accused person's companies because they misrepresented themselves.
According to a Dailyguidenetwork.com report, the Civil Engineer, who received a lump sum of GH¢502,000 on his investment, informed the court presided over by Justice Ernest Owusu-Dapaah that, in addition to the investment, he was required to pay a non-refundable commission of GH¢335,400 for seven investments with NAM 1’s companies.
Nana Appiah Mensah, along with Menzgold Ghana Limited and Brew Marketing Consult Ghana Limited, faces 39 charges, including selling gold without a license, operating a deposit-taking business, inducement to invest, defrauding by false pretense, fraudulent breach of trust and money laundering.
The allegations pertain to defrauding customers of various sums totaling GH¢340,835,650 between 2016 and 2018.
Although NAM1 has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is currently on bail of GH¢500 million with four sureties, the first witness asserted during cross-examination that he invested substantial amounts because the companies misrepresented themselves.
When the defense suggested that the witness knowingly took an investment risk and suffered losses, Attipoe maintained that it was due to the false representations made by the companies.
Counsel for the accused also suggested that the only default in the witness’s relationship with the companies occurred when the Securities and Exchange Commission Ghana (SEC) intervened by closing down the businesses.
However, Attipoe refuted this claim, stating that the companies failed to pay him returns on September 1, September 5, and September 13, even before SEC publicly announced the illegal nature of NAM1’s businesses.
Attipoe further informed the court that at the time of SEC's intervention, the total amount due to him was GH¢432,000. He highlighted that an ECOBANK cheque with a face value of GH¢240,000, provided by NAM1’s company, was dishonoured.
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File photo of Menzgold CEO, NAM1 and the defunct office space