Nana Appiah Mensah aka NAM 1
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, has challenged embattled Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of defunct Menzgold Ghana Limited, Nana Appiah Mensah a.k.a NAM1, to open his defence and tell the court the model on which his businesses operated.
“All we have to do at this stage is to establish a prima facie case and we have established it through witnesses and documents we tendered in this trial. What is he afraid of, what is he running away from? He should open his defence and tell us what his business model is,” the DPP challenged on Tuesday while closing her argument in opposition to submission of no case filed on behalf of the accused.
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.
His fate hangs in the balance as a high court in Accra has set July 10, 2024, to decide whether or not the prosecution has led sufficient evidence against him and his companies to result in them opening a defence.
His lawyer, Kwame Boafo Akuffo, has encouraged the court to dismiss the case because the prosecution has failed to lay sufficient evidence against his client for which the court ought to call upon him to put up a defence.
The prosecution on the other hand, has asserted that the office of the Attorney General has presented more than enough evidence through its nine witnesses, thereby establishing a prima facie case against the accused.
No Case
Pushing his argument for a no case submission, Mr. Akuffo averred that the court of law has no business with faceless complainants, given the allegations levelled against the accused.
He also averred that the prosecution has not presented the court with any evidence that the accused does not have license to sell gold.
He also argued that no witnesses appeared before the court to complain that they were induced by the accused to invest with any of the companies.
He also challenged the charges against the accused and argued that a person guilty of fraud cannot at the same time be guilty of fraudulent breach of trust in respect of the same business.
Mr. Akuffo added that no court can convict a man on the basis of implications and faceless complainants as untested allegations cannot form the basis of conviction.
Opposition
Mrs. Obuobisa opposed the submission and argued that the prosecution through its nine witness tendered copious documents to prove its case against the accused persons, thereby establishing a prima facie case against them to open a defence.
She said the prosecution has proven that the accused induced people to invest in breach of the Companies Act.
She indicated that the prosecution has led evidence to show that Brew Marketing is unknown to the Minerals Commission as a company licensed by Government of Ghana to purchase and import gold, yet customers were led to purchase gold or gold collectibles from NAM1 and Menzgold and deposit with Brew Marketing consult.
The DPP said the prosecution also led evidence to show that customers invested because they saw advertisements using celebrities which persuaded them to invest with the accused companies without knowing they did not have the requisite licenses.
“Multiplicity of evidence does not help the court. There was no need to bring all the complainants to the court to say the same thing that they were defrauded by the accused. We have laid sufficient evidence with the witnesses that we called and tendered sufficient documents in evidence,” Mrs. Obuobisa added.
The court will give its ruling on July 10, 2024.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak