Menzgold saga: ‘EOCO delayed in freezing NAM1’s accounts’-Former Deputy A-G

A former deputy Attorney General, Joseph Dindiok Kpemka, has opined that the Economic Organised Crime Office (EOCO) delayed in freezing the financial accounts and assets of the defunct Menzgold Limited and its Chief Executive Officer, Nana Appiah Mensah.

He believes that the immediate past Executive Director of EOCO could have implored a much quicker approach in pursuing justice for the aggrieved customers who have not been able to retrieve their locked-up funds for about four years.

“EOCO should have reacted quickly by freezing such accounts immediately it came to its attention. At the time, we had not mounted any civil action against NAM 1 so EOCO had the power to freeze his accounts,” the former deputy A-G is quoted by Citinewsroom.com.

After a few months in operation, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in 2018, suspended the activities of Menzgold Limited after it discovered that the gold trading company was operating without a valid license.

The move, however, resulted in the funds of numerous customers locked-up after the firm was shut down. Subsequently, in 2019, EOCO froze the accounts of Menzgold CEO, Nana Appiah Mensah.

As part of efforts to retrieve their locked-up funds, customers of the defunct Menzgold Limited petitioned the presidency for intervention on Monday, September 12, 2022.

The Director of Operations at the Presidency, Lord Commey, who received the petition, assured that the President [Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo] would consider their demands.

Meanwhile, since the collapse of the gold dealership firm, it is reported that about 179 persons who invested their monies in the unlicensed gold trading company have passed away.

Most recently, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame, recounted the negative impact of defunct gold dealership firm, Menzgold Limited on Ghana’s financial sector.

He said fallouts from the collapse of the firm have caused distress to many Ghanaian homes and unleashed a social crisis.

In a related development, the Attorney General has hinted that dockets of the financial crimes perpetuated in the Menzgold saga are almost ready for the prosecution to begin.

“I am happy to state that after painstaking investigations, dockets on that financial crime are almost ready for prosecution to commence in earnest,” Godfred Dame recently said.

He added that apart from the Menzgold saga, the Office of the Attorney-General is prosecuting other high-profile cases involving the offences of willfully causing financial loss to the State such as stealing, corruption, fraud, procurement breaches and money laundering.

MA/FNOQ