NAM1, known in real life as Nana Appiah Mensah, has garnered considerable media attention lately due to the issue of stranded funds belonging to certain clients of the now-defunct Menzgold Ghana Limited.
Previously, clients of the ceased gold trading company took to the streets of Accra to protest and implored the government to assist them in recovering their funds from NAM1, yet these efforts have yielded no results.
This GhanaWeb Business article provides a roster of enterprises associated with the Ghanaian entrepreneur, Nana Appiah Mensah.
Menzgold Ghana Company Limited
Before its closure, the company was into the buying and selling of gold, diamond and other precious stones. It operated as a limited liability company.
Brew Marketing Consult Co. Limited
According to reports, this company sold outsourced products from Menzgold.
Zylofon Media Company Limited
Zylofon Media Company Limited was undoubtedly one of the most talked about media companies after the young CEO signed some top musicians including Shatta Wale, Stonebwoy, etc. With its plush office located at East Legon, Zylofon Media had other subsidiaries such as Zylofon FM, Zylofon Music, Zylofon Movies, Zylofon TV, Zylofon Marketing and Copyright Office.
Narosa Hotel It was also reported that NAM1 owned a business in the hospitality industry named Narosa Hotel.
Menzgold Espana S.L
Located in Spain and established on September 2, 2017, Menzold Espana S.L was operating as a construction firm.
Cheetah Security Co. Limited
This company as its name suggests provides professional security services such as man guard, executive protection, event protection, among other security services.
The case of the Chief Executive Officer of Menzgold Ghana Limited, Nana Appiah Mensah, NAM 1, who is accused of defrauding clients out of their deposits totaling GHS1.6 billion, has been postponed until June 8.
Appearing before the substantive Judge, Mrs Evelyn Asamoah, adjourned the matter after the Police had told the court that they were still waiting for the Attorney General advice.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Emmanuel Haligah who held brief of Superintendent of Police Sylvester Asare therefore prayed the court for a date.
Ms Audrey Twum held brief of Kwame Akuffo for the accused person.
This is the 34th time the matter has appeared before the court in the past two years.
Nana Mensah is standing trial for 61 counts of abetment, defrauding by false pretences, carrying on deposit-taking business without license, unlawful deposit-taking and money laundering.
The accused persons have denied the charges and the court on July 26, 2019, admitted him to bail in the sum of GHS1 billion with five sureties, three to be justified.
The court has ordered him to report to thePolice every Wednesday, pending the outcome of the case.
On March 23, three years and eight months after his initial arraignment on July 12, 2019, Nana Appiah Mensah, the embattled Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Menzgold Ghana Limited, made his 33rd court appearance.
Nana Appiah Mensah popularly known as NAM1 was initially charged with some 13 counts but that had since been amended with his plea yet to be taken on the amended charge sheet filed on September 3, 2019, which introduced some 61 new charges.
In court on Thursday, March 23, 2023, when NAM1 made his 33rd appearance, the case was again adjourned with the trial yet to commence.
Before a relieving Judge, Her Honour Afia Owusua Appiah, Prosecution represented by ASP Emmanuel Haliga who was holding Superintendent Sylvester Asare’s brief told the court that the prosecution is still awaiting advice from the Attorney General’s office for the next line of action.
He, therefore, prayed for an adjournment and after consulting his diaries together with Lawyer Audrey Twum, who was holding lawyer Kwame Boafo’s brief agreed with the court and settled on April 25, 2023.
According to EIB Network’s Legal Affairs Correspondent, Murtala Inusah, NAM1 made his 30th, 31st and 32nd appearances on November 9, and December 14, both in 2022 and January 2, 2023, respectively.
From July 12, 2019, the CEO of the gold dealership firm has trekked the court at least 29 times by September 27, 2022.
EIB Network’s Murtala Inusah who compiled the number of times NAM1 had appeared in court since July 12, 2019, said, the businessman would make at least his 34th appearance on April 25, 2023.
Previous appearances
In 2019, NAM1 made six appearances at the Circuit Court in Accra while in 2020 he appeared in court eight times. He then made further nine appearances in 2021 and five times in 2022.
In 2019, the CEO of Menzgold appeared in court on July 12 (his first) and made subsequent appearances on August 6, September 3, October 23, November 20 and December 23.
For 2020, the CEO of Menzgold made appearances on January 21, March 6, June 24, July 20, September 7, October 1, November 4 and December 16.
In 2021, NAM1 made nine appearances on January 20, March 2, April 1, May 27, July 6, September 2, October 11, November 22 and December 21.
In 2022, the embattled CEO of Menzgold was in court five times on February 21, April 4, May 16, July 15 and August 16 with the next court hearing fixed for September 27.
Meanwhile, he had also made court appearances in a Dubai Court before his return to Ghana following the collapse of Menzgold.
Main trial
On August 17, 2019, the embattled NAM 1 was released from police custody after meeting his varied bail conditions.
NAM1 together with his wife Rose Tetteh and his sister Benedicta Appiah (both at large) were facing a total of 13 counts of defrauding by false pretences, money laundering, abetment and carrying on deposit-taking business without a licence.
Two of his companies- Menzgold Ghana Limited and Brew Marketing Consult Limited – have also been charged with seven counts of defrauding by false pretences and carrying on deposit-taking business without a licence.
On July 26, 2019, NAM1 pleaded not guilty to all the charges and the court presided over by Jane Harriet Akweley Quaye granted him bail to the tune of GH¢1 billion (about $185 million) with five sureties, three of which are to be justified.
Additionally, he was ordered by the court to report to the police every Wednesday.
But the condition that required him to ensure three of the five sureties for justification was removed when he could not meet his initial bail terms.
Charges
The initial counts preferred were defrauding by false pretences, abetment to defraud by false pretences, carrying deposit business without a licence, abetment of sale of minerals without a licence, sale of minerals without a licence, abetment of unlawful deposit-taking, unlawful deposit-taking and money laundering.
Brief facts
The brief facts of the case as presented to the court by then ASP Asare, (now Superintendent Sylvester 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.
ASP Asare told the court that, the complainants said their money was locked up and they could not find Mensah and the other principal officers of the company.
He said investigations revealed that Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult were incorporated as limited liability companies in 2013 and 2016, respectively.
DSP Asare (now said Menzgold obtained a licence from the Minerals Commission in August 2016 to purchase and export gold from small-scale miners, and to successfully engage in the business, Nana Appiah founded Brew Marketing Consult to be a gold buying agent.
DSP 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.
He said further investigations revealed that the three accused persons were the directors and principal officers of Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult.
This follows media publication suggesting that the CEO of the defunct Menzgold holds a Service passport.
The Ministry described the publication as “blatantly false.â€
According to the Ministry, NAM1 holds an ordinary passport and not a Service Passport.
In a Facebook post on Monday, 29 August 2022, the Ministry stated categorically that, “the Passport Office has not issued any Service Passport to the person [NAM1] in question.â€
It stressed that: “Checks from our system indicate that NAM 1 only holds an ordinary passport, which was issued in Accra, by the Passport Office.
“The general public must, therefore, disregard the said publication, as it is blatantly false.â€
He asserted that the customers would not receive their money back because the Menzgold CEO, Nana Appiah Mensah, also known as NAM1, who is currently facing charges for operating unlawfully, is being shielded by those at the helm of affairs.
In light of this, he added that, he is not surprised that the Economic and Organized Crime Office‘s (EOCO) Executive Director, COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, is alleged to have said that there is insufficient evidence to convict NAM1 of any crime.
“EOCO said there is no evidence to take NAM1 to court for the court to prosecute and sentence him. What have I been telling you? I have told you guys that the Menzgold customers are not going to get their money back.
“NAM1 will never be jailed. He is not going to be imprisoned for even three days. NAM1 is enjoying whatever he is enjoying. NAM1 is protected. EOCO is saying there are not enough laws in Ghana to take NAM1 to court. So, how did the Bank of Ghana close down MenzGold,†he said in Twi in an Onua TV interview monitored by GhanaWeb.
He added that “NAM1 has indefinite vice to the UK and the US and also has easy access to Singapore. So, anything in his case becomes difficult, he travels out of the country. Who gave such a criminal a service passport? Service passports are given to government officials and anyone working for the government. Who gave NAM1 a service passport? He is protected.”
Captain Smart further stated that even if the Office of the Special Prosecutor investigates NAM1, nothing can be done to him.
