Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice has disclosed that Nana Appiah Mensah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the defunct Menzgold will be prosecuted soon.
He said the docket for the prosecution of Mr. Mensah, popularly known as NAM1, is almost ready.
Speaking on the Financial sector crisis in Ghana at Cambridge University, the Attorney General bemoaned how badly Ghana’s economy has been hit by the banking sector crisis and the operations of Ponzi schemes.
“Between August 2017 and January 2020, Ghana was hit by a severe banking crisis that affected several institutions, and several indigenous banks, as a result of which the central bank ordered a take-over of some of the banks by the Ghana Commercial Bank. The Central bank cited the insolvency of the banks as a significant reason for revoking their license.”
“Five indigenous banks were consolidated to form the Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited. A deeper examination of the banking crisis showed poor corporate governance, non-performing loans, breach of directors’ obligations, credit risks, and regulatory lapses were responsible for the vulnerabilities the banks were exposed to. Internal auditors who were required to superintend proper accounting practices were complacent and covered up Executive Directors. The recent banking crisis held ramifications for the entire economy. It was the most severe economic crisis to affect Ghana since independence.”
Reacting specifically on NAM1, the AG said said: “after painstaking investigations, dockets of the financial crime are almost ready for the prosecution to commence in earnest.”
Recently, Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO), Maame Tiwaa Addo-Danquahat a forum had stated that it is becoming difficult to find evidence to prosecute Nana Appiah Mensah a.k.a NAM1 due to the lack of relevant laws to support the case.
NAM1 is currently on bail following his arrest on July 11, 2019, upon his return to the country from Dubai where he was put in detention on charges of defrauding a business partner.
After months of a legal tussle in Dubai, NAM1 was released as prosecutors could not prove their case of fraud against him, apparently paving the way for him to come back to Ghana to stand trial.
He was initially charged for money laundering and defrauding by false pretences by taking deposits without a licence, and has since been going in and out of courts, facing over 50 charges.
Pulse
