SEC bemoans unavailability of laws to prosecute fraudsters

Inadequate laws to prosecute Ponzi fraudsters, SEC

Menzgold case still in court after 3years

Make sure financial institutions are licensed by BoG - Public told

The Securities and Exchange Commission has stated that Ghana has not been able to prosecute cases of fraud due to the unavailability of sufficient laws.

Many have noted that people who have been found to be involved in fraud cases in Ghana are not fully prosecuted.

One of those cases is the case of gold dealership firm Menzgold which is currently in court after 3 years of prosecution.

Head of Policy Research and IT at the Securities and Exchange Commission Ghana, Emmanuel Ashong noted that these cases drag because prosecutors do not provide enough evidence to be able to defend their cases in court.

He said, “if we want to use a law like frauding under false pretenses, the person will say I am not fraudulent and he can even bring one or two people who have benefited from it as evidence, and then he will say if it had not been the regulators coming in, I’d have paid you. So, it’s very difficult.”

He made these comments during a public lecture organized by the University of Ghana chapter of the International Improving Financial Awareness and Literacy Association, on the theme “Warding off fraudulent Investment schemes in Ghana”.

The lecture which formed part of the financial literacy month observation sought to sensitize the public about Ponzi, pyramid, and fraud schemes in Ghana’s financial sector.

SEC also noted some characteristics of ponzi schemes, including investments with complex strategies and the lifestyle of promoters of such investments.

Also, if “the company is unable to reproduce your money”, you have to know that it is a fraudulent venture.