Nana Appiah Mensah
After more than a year of challenging an order on him to mount a defence, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Menzgold Ghana Limited, Nana Appiah Mensah, aka NAM1, has told a High Court in Accra that the company was licensed by the necessary institution to operate in the gold industry.
“Menzgold Ghana Limited was incorporated to undertake the business of gold mining, buying, value addition to the gold that will be mined or purchased and export among others,” NAM1 told the court yesterday during his evidence-in-chief.
According to him, at the time the company operated, prior to its closure and attending issues which have landed him in court for allegedly defrauding his customers, “the company held the relevant licenses.”
NAM1 and two of his companies – Menzgold Ghana Limited and Brew Marketing Consult Ghana Limited are facing 39 counts of defrauding by false pretence, inducing members of the public to invest, money laundering, among others for a total of GH¢340,835,650.
An initial charge sheet filed before the court accused the three of inducing members of the public to invest a total of GH¢1,680,920,000.
That figure has significantly dropped to GH¢340,835,650, which the three are said to have induced customers into investing due mainly to the fact that some of the complainants are not willing to testify.
The court, presided over by Justice Ernest Owusu-Dapaa, on July 11, 2024, ordered NAM1 and his companies to mount a defence after dismissing their submission of no case when the prosecution closed its case.
The accused had since mounted a relentless effort against the order, going as high up as the Supreme Court to put the trial on hold to enable them challenge the ruling of the trial court.
After failing to stay the proceedings at both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, NAM1 finally opened his defence and told the court yesterday that Menzgold Ghana Limited operated with a licence.
Led in his evidence by Paa Joy Akuamoah Boateng, the accused told the court that “the company applied to PMMC [Precious Mineral Marketing Company], completed the relevant documentation and paid the relevant fees. We were subjected to PMMC’s internal processes and screening and were issued a license to undertake our operations.”
He said two to three years later, PMMC changed to the effect that government mandated them as a national assayer instead of a licensing institution.
NAM1 further indicated that he has poof that his company was licensed to operate, noting that his claim is “undisputable because these are institutions we can always verify.”
He said “it’s important to add that when our company was shut down by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) preserved all of Menzgold’s offices.
This, he said, has resulted in him not being able to access valuable evidence that would have been used in defence of the allegations levelled against him.
Meanwhile, the court has ordered NAM1 to file a witness statement by February 9, 2026.
In default, the court said he will continue to give oral testimony. The case was adjourned to February 19.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak