Nana Appiah Mensah aka NAM1
The investigating officer in the trial of Nana Appiah Mensah alias NAM1, CEO of the defunct Menzgold Ghana Limited, told the High Court in Accra that the accused used celebrities to persuade members of the public to invest in his companies that were engaged in with illegal actions.
According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Charles Nyarko, their investigations revealed that neither NAM1 nor its companies Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult were licensed by the Minerals Commission to sell gold or gold products to the general public, indicating that “the accused persons were involved in illegal activities from the beginning.
He also told the court that neither NAM1 nor his companies were authorized by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to accept deposits from the general public.
“The accused persons suggested to the general public that they were authorized to run these businesses. This was not the only inducement, the accused used celebrities to persuade our complainants to invest in A2 and A3 (Menzgold and Brew Marketing),” the investigating officer told the court.
He mentioned some of the celebrities like Okyeame Kwame, Stonebwoy, Becca, Jackie Appiah and Joselyn Dumas.
“These celebrities were found on Menzgold billboards with branded Menzgold chips in the gathering area of the second and third defendants. My lord, with this, with the careers these celebrities built for themselves during the period, our complainants fell into this incitement,” added DSP Nyarko.
NAM1 and two of its companies – Menzgold Ghana Limited and Brew Marketing Consult Ghana Limited are facing 39 counts of fraud by false representation, inducing members of the public to invest and money laundering.
Transferring funds
The investigator told the court that in a letter dated January 10, 2019, the police requested information from the Companies Registration Office on all companies linked to NAM1 and a total of 27 companies were linked to it.
Led in his evidence-in-chief by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, the witness pointed out that investigations revealed that Zylofon Media was set up as a company solely in the entertainment business but NAM1 transferred substantial funds from Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult Zylofon total GH¢84,480,811.00.
On July 20, 2018, an amount of GH¢2 million was transferred to Zylofon Media while a total of GH¢26,930,997.00 was transferred from Brew Marketing’s account to Zylofon between March and December 2017.
Another GH¢55,549,814.00 was transferred from Brew Marketing’s Bank of Africa account to Zylofon Media between January and April 2018.
DSP Nyarko stated that apart from the fact that NAM1 owns Menzgold, Brew Marketing Consult and Zylofon Media, “I have found that there is no justifiable reason for the huge transfers from A3 (Brew Consult) to Zylofon.”
The investigator also revealed the transfer of huge sums of money totaling GH¢155,552,141.30 from Brew Consult into the personal account of NAM1.
He gave the breakdown as a transfer of GH¢113,400,000.00 which was paid personally to NAM1 between October 18, 2017 and July 13, 2018.
Between April and December 2017, a total of GH¢23,410,000.00 was transferred from the account of Brew Marketing Consult and withdrawn from NAM1.
Again, the investigator revealed that another GH¢18,742,141.30 was transferred from Brew Consult account to NAM1 between January and April 2018.
DSP Nyarko also disclosed that between July 11 and August 15, 2018, the sum of GH¢66 million was made through check payments to Abigail Mensah who is the younger sister of NAM1.
BY Jibril Abdul Razak