Nana addressing the media
President Akufo-Addo has indicated that gold worth $5 billion exported from Ghana to Dubai cannot be accounted for.
In his second media encounter with the media yesterday at the Flagstaff House, Accra a year after being sworn into office, President Akufo-Addo said authorities in Dubai had informed the Ghana government that they recorded $7 billion worth of gold from Ghana in 2016.
However, authorities in Ghana allegedly have records of $2 billion as proceeds from gold exported to Dubai in the period under review, leaving $5 billion unaccounted for.
According to him, the development showed that the fight against illegal, mining ‘galamsey’ currently in the country was not only to protect the environment and water bodies but fight against money laundering.
BUSINESS GUIDE’s earlier investigations revealed that there was a smuggling syndicate in the sector, which allegedly had links with the former Managing Director of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) and exported gold through the company without repatriating the funds.
The paper gathered that the foreigners, who reportedly had close links with management of PMMC, usually shipped the gold first to India or China and changed the documentation of the goods to make their origin rather India or China instead of Ghana before transporting them to Dubai for sale at world market price.
Denial
Even though the former MD, Abradoo-Otoo has denied this paper’s report in 2015, the current Managing Director of PMMC, Dr. Opare Hammond, upon assuming office in 2017, made a serious revelation similar to that of President Akufo-Addo that a whopping GH¢50 million was misappropriated at PMMC in 2016 during the previous Mahama administration.
Ghana in 2016, according to Dr Hammond, reportedly lost a substantial amount of revenue as a result of alleged non-repatriation of export proceeds from a whopping amount of $2.5 billion worth of gold exported through PMMC.
BUSINESS GUIDE has gathered that PMMC allegedly used Indians and Chinese as conduit to export gold at the time.
By Melvin Tarlue