‘NAM 1’ Threatens Showdown With BoG

…Over GH¢2.5m Cash To Police

Nana Appiah Mensah, the embattled chief executive officer (CEO) of the defunct gold dealership firm, Menzgold, is promising a proper showdown with the Bank of Ghana (BoG) in the coming weeks.

NAM 1, as he is affectionately called, is peeved that some GH¢2.5million he deposited with the police administration has landed in the vault of the central bank, when he has not ordered for same as per his arrangements with the police.

“For me, I didn’t give BoG money to settle my customers. As for the central bank, I have issues with them, and very soon I will be coming out with them for everybody to see and hear. The bad acts that occurred in this country,” he has said.

The agreement with the police, according to him, was to have them provide a desk where Menzgold officials could distribute the money to their customers.

“The intent was not to give money to the police to distribute. We went to the police because we wanted security. The agreement with the police was to have them provide a desk where we could distribute the money.

“I am surprised the money has been deposited at the Bank of Ghana. I will go back to the police and ask them to give the money back to me because that was not the arrangement we had,” he said.

Apparently, NAM 1 has issues with the apex bank, headed by Dr. Ernest Addison, and so says, in the coming weeks, he will be on their case. He accused the BoG of playing a role in the collapse of his firms.

In an interview with Accra based Starr FM yesterday, October 25, portions of which are making the rounds on the internet, Mr. Appiah-Mensah said it is time he spills the bean for everyone to hear.

He added that if it was the case that, the police cannot assist in the distribution of the money, he will make his own security arrangements and have the money distributed to customers, who have been living in abject poverty after their investments got trapped, following the shutdown of the firm in 2019.

Mr. Mensah further stated that he “only contacted the police to give us security,” adding that “the court has no responsibility to pay my customers.”

Reportedly, the police, on the advice of the Office of the Attorney-General, on Friday, October 20, 2023, received an amount of GH₵2.5 million from NAM 1.

Video of the cash amount being sent to the police hit the internet, with many raising eyebrows.

In a statement, the police administration indicated that the said amount has been deposited in the Police Exhibit account at the Bank of Ghana for the attention of the court.

But NAM 1 will have none of that, saying that was not the agreement and insisted he would go for the money.

“In the weeks ahead, I will speak for everyone to hear. I have been quiet for the last five years, and people keep calling me bad names,” he said.

Recall that the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, last August charged NAM 1 with 36 counts of offences, including abetment, defrauding by false pretence, carrying on deposit-taking business without license, unlawful deposit-taking and money laundering.

It was a reduction from the initial 61 charges brought against him. The Attorney General commenced investigations against NAM 1 in 2019 when he was accused of defrauding thousands of customers through his gold dealership firm over millions of Ghana cedis.

When he appeared at the High Court on October 19, he pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Mr. Appiah-Mensah said now that the prosecution has started, he will speak his truth to defend himself in the coming days.

“Now that we are in court, I will speak up; I will in the coming days defend myself, and we will know who really is at fault. Until then, I have not given money to BoG. I owe my customers, and I am the one to pay, not BoG,” he added.

Source: Anchorghana.com