Nana Appiah Mensah
Some 100 retired and active Police Officers at the Kasoa Divisional Police Command in the Central Region have filed a writ at the Accra High Court against Gold dealership Company Menzgold, in a bid to retrieve their locked up investments.
The affected officers told Citi News they resorted to the court because all attempts to retrieve their monies from Menzgold have proven futile.
Leader of the group, Samson Addai, blamed government for their woes because it failed to regulate the activities of the company.
“Government said we are too greedy because we were not diligent enough and invested our money there. If government says Menzgold does not have the license to operate, then the CEO should be arrested so he pays us.”
“We don’t want to take the law into our hands, that is why we have engaged a lawyer to retrieve our money for us. So, we have filed a write at the Accra High Court to demand our money. We are not saying government should pay, but rather it should force Menzgold to give us our cash”, he added.
Another policeman reaffirmed their resolve to get their money by going through legal means, and attributed the current turn of events to government’s dereliction of duty.
“Menzgold helped us a lot. As police officers our salaries were meager, but we were able to carry out some projects with our investment returns. We blame government for what has happened but not Menzgold. For Ken Ofori-Atta to tell us that we are greedy, we don’t get it. They did not do their work well.”
“If government has halted the operations of Menzgold, we are only interested in getting back our cash. The company has failed to pay us in spite of the terms and conditions associated with the new migration onto the online platform”, another officer said.
Some customers have already demonstrated against the company over the non-payment of their locked up cash.
Pastor sues Menzgold over delayed payments
This is not the first suit against the company. In October 2018, a customer sued the firm for breach of contract and misrepresentation.
The customer, who’s a Reverend Minister, is demanding the payment of his accrued interest and GHC 24,000 principal investments which he allegedly deposited with Menzgold on April 20, 2018. Rev. Joseph Appiah Odei in his writ said he deposited 12 pounds of gold estimated at Ghc24,000 for 12 months, and paid a non-refundable commission of Ghc1,200 to Menzgold.
BoG, Finance Ministry staff, soldiers invested in Menzgold – Ofori-Atta
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, had earlier revealed that some enlightened and prominent Ghanaians invested their monies in gold dealership company, Menzgold, despite the unlicensed company’s unrealistic rates.
He mentioned that some staff of his Ministry and those from the Bank of Ghana, as well as military personnel, invested their hard earned monies in the troubled company.
“…As I look at the Ministry of Finance and I see some people who are at the Ministry of Finance who have invested there [in Menzgold], I look at the Bank of Ghana and I see some people who have [also] invested there, and of course the military etc,” he added.
Mr. Ofori Atta said the customers of Menzgold were driven by greed since the returns on investment promised by the company was unrealistic.
He also added that the gold dealership company did not have the license to operate the kind of business they were into.
Ofori-Atta added that some staff of his Ministry and the Bank of Ghana as well as other educated persons who invested in Menzgold ought to have known better.
Menzgold management conniving to secretly pay ‘close friends’ – Staff allege
Already, staff of Menzgold Ghana Limited have accused management of conniving with some persons within the government to secretly pay off selected clients of the company.
“We confirm that Management members are secretly paying off clients without a proper schedule and with assurances to other clients. This makes their act suspicious, and unfair whenever money is made available.
“Powers in government are aiding persons to retrieve funds but these same powers are reluctant in seeking the best solution for all,” the staff added in the statement.
The staff, who say they have been working for four months without pay, also say they are being denied information by management on the issue of client settlements.
Background
Menzgold was asked to suspend its gold trading operations with the public by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to the SEC, Menzgold has been dealing in the purchase and deposit of gold collectibles from the public and issuing contracts with guaranteed returns with clients, without a valid license from the Commission.
This, the SEC said this was in contravention of “section 109 of Act 929 with consequences under section 2016 (I) of the same Act.”
The company was however cleared to continue its “other businesses of assaying, purchasing gold from small-scale miners and export of gold.”
Despite initial protests, Menzgold complied with the directive. It has however failed to fully pay its numerous aggrieved customers the value on their gold deposits as well as their entire investments.
-Citifmonline