President Akufo-Addo has finally broken his silence on Menzgold Ghana Limited, a gold trading firm, which has left many Ghanaians helpless as to the where about of their investments. The President, speaking at the 2019 State of the Nation Address in Accra on Thursday, 21st February, 2019, described the debacle as “…a tragic phenomenon that appears to have occurred in plain sight, and affected a lot of people, in spite of warnings from official institutions.”

According to the President, the establishment of the Presidential Financial Stability Advisory Council will go a long way to prevent such future occurrences in the financial sector of the economy. He therefore called on the public to remain calm as the investigations are completed.

“As the authorities try to unravel the intricacies of what happened, I admonish all Ghanaians to learn the necessary lessons for the future, even as State institutions work to bring a resolution to the matter, and those who are seen to have indulged in criminal activities, are brought to justice.,” he said.

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In January this year, the Financial Court in Accra froze the assets of Menzgold following an application brought before it by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO). The EOCO had, prior to that, frozen the accounts of the companies run by the Chief Executive of Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah, popularly known as NAM1, who is currently facing prosecution in United Arab Emirates for fraud.

There have been a number of demonstration by Menzgold customers across the country challenging the government to ensure that their investments are safeguarded.

Background

Nana Appiah Mensah is the CEO of Menzgold

Thousands of Menzgold customers have had their money locked up in the company since August 2018. Some hit the streets to demand the release of their money while Menzgold and the authorities engaged in a war of words.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on September 12, 2018, directed the gold trading firm to shut down its investment operations immediately for contravening the Securities Industry Act, 2016 (Act 929).

The SEC order also warned Menzgold to halt advertising its investment business and desist from creating new contracts with depositors.

According to a letter addressed to Nana Mensah by the SEC, investigations conducted by the regulator found that Menzgold’s business, which involved the purchase/deposit of gold from the public and contracts issued with guaranteed returns with clients, was a capital market activity which could not be conducted without a valid licence issued by the SEC.

Click to read the FULL STATEMENT of the 2019 State of the Nation Address