The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Dame, has commented on the Menzgold saga after his outfit slapped the former Chief Executive Officer for Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah (NAM1), with 39 charges.
Delivering the Keynote Address at the 40th Cambridge Symposium on Economic Crime on Monday, September 4, 2023, Dame indicated that prosecution of the NAM1 formed put of effort of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government to deal with crime in the financial sector of Ghana.
He described owners of fraudulent institutions like Menzgold as persons who live expensive lifestyles on the proceeds of illegal entities they have established to exploit ordinary citizens.
“Mr. Chairman, last year, I spoke about a phenomenon that afflicted the financial sector of Ghana between 2018 and 2020, that is, the emergence of many unlicensed financial entities operating illegally. The leaders of such entities often lived a lavish lifestyle on the proceeds of their illicit activities.
“I indicated that prominent among such entities was an amorphous organisation operating a microfinance institution under the guise of – guess what – gold trading and illegally using the name of a bank. It called itself Menzbank, before metamorphosing into “Menzgold”. It dealt in the purchase and deposit of gold collectables from the public and issued contracts with guaranteed returns to clients without a licence from the relevant authorities,” he said.
Dame indicated that NAM1 and other fraudsters prey on the helplessness and greediness of some Ghanaians to steal from them.
“The modus operandi of that company highlighted some of the major factors for the success of some fraudsters. These are ignorance, vulnerability and greed of the victims. In this situation, the vulnerability and ignorance of thousands of otherwise hardworking Ghanaians was the oxygen for the operations of the company, as we often witness in the case of many Ponzi schemes around the world. People paid their life savings to the suspects in the case, resulting in losses worth millions of dollars and in some cases, loss of lives.”
The attorney general decried the havoc many Ghanaians, who lost their investments, properties and livelihoods because of the works of Menzgold, went through.
He, however, noted that his outfit would work to ensure that all victims of the Menzgold scum get their monies back.
“The misery and distress caused to many homes nearly unleashed a social crisis as riots and demonstrations broke out on the streets of Accra and other parts of the country. In reality, people lost their homes, and some marriages even broke up as a result of the Menzgold saga. I am happy to state that after painstaking investigations, criminal prosecution has commenced against the perpetrators. At last, by the Grace of God, justice will be served to victims of those dastardly acts,” he said.
Source: ghanaweb.com
