The former Chief Executive Officer of defunct Menzgold Ghana Limited, Nana Appiah Mensah, popularly known as NAM 1, has filed witness statements in the case in which he is standing trial for allegedly using his companies to induce and defraud over 16,000 members of the public.
The witness statement consists of seven documents, including agreements between the Government of Ghana and his company, pictures of gold bars, among others.
The Court has given him up to Friday, July 17, 2026, to file extra documents he intends to rely on for his defence. NAM1 is expected to continue his evidence-in-chief on Friday, July 17, 2026.
Not guilty
NAM1 and two of his companies — Menzgold Ghana Limited and Brew Marketing Consult Ghana Limited — have been charged with 39 counts of selling gold without a licence, operating a deposit-taking business without a licence, inducement to invest, defrauding by false pretence, fraudulent breach of trust, and money laundering.
The allegations levelled against them relate to defrauding their customers of various sums of money between 2016 and 2018, totalling GH¢340,835,650.
NAM1 has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and is on bail of GH¢500 million with four sureties.
Prosecution's facts
According to the prosecution, between 2017 and 2018, NAM1 and Menzgold invited members of the public to purchase gold and gold collectables from Brew Marketing Consult Ghana Limited and to deposit the same with Menzgold.
The prosecution said in various forms of invitations, the accused persons, representing the two companies as deposit-taking businesses, invited members of the public to deposit purchased gold and gold collectables with Menzgold in return for profits ranging from seven to ten per cent.
The prosecution said in response to this invitation, over 16,000 members of the public deposited huge sums of money with the expectation that they were dealing with an authorised deposit-taking business, which would guarantee them the returns as advertised by the accused persons.
Menzgold Ghana Limited and Brew Marketing Consult Ghana Limited, the prosecution said, continued with their operations despite several engagements and warning notices issued by the relevant agencies.
"Meanwhile, members of the public started facing challenges, either with delayed payments or reduced dividends; a number of cheques issued by NAM1 and Menzgold were also dishonoured," the prosecution said.
Directive
On September 7, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission directed Menzgold to suspend its business for operating without a licence.
Between November 2016 and March 2019, the prosecution said, many customers of the accused entities petitioned the police, complaining that they had invested huge sums of money with the accused, but were unable to realise their investments despite persistent efforts.
"Investigations revealed that the accused persons, under false pretences, took a total sum of GH¢340,835,650 from their customers, which these customers have not recovered.
"Investigations further disclosed that between 2017 and 2018, the accused persons transferred huge sums of depositors' funds from Menzgold Ghana Company Ltd and Brew Marketing Consult Ltd to Zylofon Media, a company related to NAM1," the prosecution said.
It added that huge sums of money were also withdrawn by NAM1 or transferred into his bank account for his personal use.
"Investigations have established that the money fraudulently obtained from depositors and dishonestly appropriated by the accused persons remained unpaid as Menzgold Ghana Company Ltd's licence was revoked," the prosecution stated.
