The Accra Circuit Court has granted a request for adjournment to enable the state to again amend charges in the case involving the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah, also known as NAM 1, and two others.
Sources familiar with the case who declined to be named said the number of charges against NAM 1 for allegedly defrauding 16,000 customers might shoot up to 60.
The presiding judge, Mr Malike Wanya Day, granted the application for adjournment and fixed October 23, 2019 as the next date for hearing.
In an oral application, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mr Sylvester Asare, prayed the court that it had become necessary to amend the charge sheet.
He said he had agreed with the defence team to pray the court for a new hearing date in order to carry out the proposed amendment.
It will be the second time the state is amending the charge sheet.
Seven charges were preferred against the accused persons when the case was first filed on July 12, this year. Subsequently, it added six more charges on July 26, bringing the charges to 13.
Background
The embattled NAM 1 was released from police custody on August 17, 2019 after meeting his new bail conditions.
Sources close to the case told the Daily Graphic that Nana Appiah was released around 4 p.m. following the signing of his bail bond by five individuals at the Registry of the Accra Circuit Court.
Earlier, the court had varied the bail conditions to allow for five sureties to guarantee his bail without showing evidence of having properties worth the GH¢1 billion bail sum.
The court, presided over by Mrs Jane Harriet Akweley Quaye, varied the bail conditions following an application by Mr Kwame Boafo Akuffo, counsel for Nana Appiah.
It, however, refused a request by counsel for a reduction in the bail sum from GH¢1 billion to GH¢20 million.
Hitherto, the court had ordered, on July 26, 2019, that three of the five sureties should show justification, meaning they must show proof that they had properties or interests worth the GH¢1 billion bail sum.
As part of the bail conditions, the
Menzgold CEO was ordered to report himself to the Ghana Police Service every Wednesday.
Justification removed
With the court removing the justification aspect of the bail, Nana Appiah — who is standing trial over allegations that he used Menzgold to defraud more than 16,000 people of about GH¢1.6 billion — only required five people who were gainfully employed to stand as sureties for him in order to properly execute the bail.
“Under the circumstances, the court removes the justification set as condition for bail, but the bail sum remains the same,” the presiding judge had ruled.
Not guilty
Prosecutors have accused Nana Appiah, his wife, Ms Rose Tetteh, and his sister, Ms Benedicta Mensah, of using Menzgold as a tool to defraud more than 16,000 people of GH¢1.68 billion.
The three accused persons — described as the principal officers of Menzgold — along with Menzgold and its sister company, Brew Marketing Consult Limited, both represented by Nana Appiah, have been slapped with 13 counts.
The counts are defrauding by false pretences, abetment to defraud by false pretences, carrying deposit business without licence, abetment of sale of minerals without licence, sale of minerals without licence, abetment of unlawful deposit-taking, unlawful deposit-taking and money laundering.
Nana Appiah has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. His wife and his sister are, however, at large.
Facts
The facts, as presented by ASP Asare, were that in October 2018, the police received a complaint from about 16,000 people that Menzgold had convinced them to invest GH¢1.68 billion in a gold purchase scheme that yielded 10 per cent monthly interest.
According to him, the complainants said their money was locked up and they could not find Mensah and the other principal officers of the company.
The prosecutor said investigations revealed that Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult were incorporated as limited liability companies in 2013 and 2016, respectively.
Menzgold, he said, obtained a licence from the Minerals Commission in August 2016 to purchase and export gold from small-scale miners, and that in order to successfully engage in the business, Nana Appiah founded Brew Marketing Consult to be a gold buying agent.
ASP Asare said although Menzgold was licensed to purchase gold, it was not licensed by the Minerals Commission to trade in gold.
Notwithstanding the lack of such a licence, he said, Menzgold went public after its incorporation and invited the public to deposit money for a fixed period with interest, on the pretext of gold purchasing.
The prosecutor said further investigations revealed that the three accused persons were the directors and principal officers of Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult.
Source: graphic.com.gh
