Nana Appiah Mensah aka NAM1
The Office of the Attorney General would be calling 11 witnesses as it pushes to secure a conviction in the trial of Chief Executive Officer of defunct Menzgold Ghana Limited, Nana Appiah Mensah (NAM1) and two of his companies for defrauding its customers.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, yesterday told a High Court in Accra that some of the witnesses would need four hours for their evidence-in-chief, while some would need just about 40 minutes.
Kwame Akuffo, counsel for the accused, indicated he would need 30 minutes in cross-examining the first 10 witnesses but would need an hour to cross-examine the case investigator.
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 and money laundering.
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 yesterday finalised case management and completion plan and the trial judge, Justice Ernest Owusu-Dapaa, a Court of Appeal judge sitting as an additional High Court judge, has target the end of March 2024 to deliver his judgement.
Meanwhile, the judge has encouraged the parties to consider settling the case through a plea bargain.
Justice Owusu-Dapaa said the parties have between now and the time he would deliver his judgement to take the opportunity to reach an agreement.
He added that since the issues have to do with money, there is an opportunity for the parties to reach an agreement and the court would take a look at it.
Kwame Akuffo, counsel for the accused, indicated to the court that he had not received such instruction from his clients at the moment.
The court adjourned the case to December 20, 2023, for the prosecution to call its first witness.
NAM1 has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was admitted to a bail of GH¢500 million with four sureties with no justification.
He was also ordered to deposit his passport with the court’s registrar and to report to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service every Thursday.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak