The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of defunct Menzgold Ghana Limited, Nana Appiah Mensah, popularly known as NAM1, has told the High Court that the setting up of Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consults was based on the advice of the Bank of Ghana.
According to him, the central bank advised that “we tweak our company’s name (from Menzbank to Menzbanc which later became Menzgold) a bit to cure that defect.”
The embattled CEO of defunct Menzgold Ghana Limited, Nana Appiah Mensah, popularly known as NAM1 (A1), and his two companies – Menzgold Ghana Limited (A2) and Brew Marketing Consult (A3) – are answering questions to 35 out of 39 counts of charges in the Menzgold case.
As part of his oral testimony (Evidence-in-Chief) as he mounts defence to the charges, he told the High Court in Accra that, “Our team and that of the Central Bank collectively resolved that Menzbank with ‘K’ would be changed to Menzbanc with ‘C’ on the basis of consistency, which is the cardinal element in business administration.”
To this end, he stated, “I can state categorically that Menzbank with ‘K’ was changed to Menzbanc with ‘C’ on the advice of the Bank of Ghana,” which alternately became known as Menzgold Ghana Limited.
NAM1 has pleaded not guilty to charges including selling gold without a license, operating a deposit-taking business without a licence, inducement to invest, 19 counts of defrauding by false pretences, seven counts of fraudulent breach of trust, and gold laundering contrary to statutes.
BoG publication
In Court on Thursday, February 19, 2026, while being led by his lawyer, Paa Joy Akuamoah Boateng, NAM1 explained the incorporation status and licensing of Menzgold Ghana Limited (A2).
“…The incorporation status and, by extension, the licenses of the second accused, as I intimated in the previous session, it is important to situate the company’s name into proper perspective on the basis of the fact that the licenses I referred to were issued in different ways.
“Your Lordship, A2 (Menzgold Gold) was originally incorporated as Menzbank Ghana Company Limited, intended to set up and operate as the first ‘bullion van’ in West Africa, if not Africa.”
He told the Court that, “In the course of A2’s (Menzgold) operations and in the pursuit of realising its vision, as the first bullion van of Africa, the Bank of Ghana issued a publication including A2’s name as part of unlicensed micro-finance institutions.”
He said, at that point, “Counsel for A2 (Menzgold) then wrote a letter to the Bank of Ghana after having sighted the publication in the dailies, informing them of the fact that A2 is not a micro-finance institution and humbly requested that A2’s name be expunged from the list of the institutions.”
NAM1 said, “The Central Bank responded and requested all supporting documents and invited us for a meeting.”
“As a law-abiding citizen, we submitted the PMMC license and all the information they requested, of which they acknowledged receipt, and A2 was subsequently given an opportunity in the meeting that was chaired by Mr. Amoh Awuah and other officers of the central bank to adequately speak to the issue, which we did to the best of our ability,” he told the Court.
In the meeting, it was resolved that the name Menzbank (with ‘K’) as part of the publication was a mistaken identity stemming from the fact that Menzbank depicts or is suggestive of a financial institution, which is why A2’s (Menzgold) name was part of the publication.
BoG’s advice to change name
NAM1 said, consequently, “The central bank advised that we tweak our company’s name a bit to cure that defect, and so, more specifically, our team and that of the central bank collectively resolved that Menzbank with ‘K’ would be changed to Menzbanc with ‘C’ on the basis of consistency, which is the cardinal element in business administration.”
And this, “I can state categorically that Menzbank with ‘K’ was changed to Menzbanc with ‘C’ on the advice of the Bank of Ghana.”
“In the course of our operations,” NAM1 said, “the Bank of Ghana reached out to us again after several months of having obliged or complied with the change of name, for us to attend another meeting, which we did.”
Public inquiry
He said at the meeting, among other things, “which I can’t clearly recollect, the prime concern was to the effect that the Central Bank of Ghana keeps getting phone calls from members of the public inquiring as to whether or not Menzbanc with ‘C’ is a licensed financial institution.”
He said the meeting was premised on two main factors – first, “that the name Menzbanc (with C) still depicts a financial institution, and so members of the public who are diligent in doing business with our company, as part of their due diligence standards, often call the Central Bank to make enquiries.”
And the second was that, “on the basis that the gold bullion – gold jewellery products/tablets sold to buyers in our reception often opted to be traded for extra value within the trading period, has a semblance of financial investment.”
He said after thorough discussions and considerations, “the Central Bank instructed that for us to continue and do business devoid of confusion and controversies and the numerous enquiry calls that were coming to their front desk, they specifically instructed that we separate the sale of the gold jewellery products and the gold trading by Menzgold (buying and selling).”
He said the BoG underscored that it was “important for us to set up another distinct entity to handle the retail of the good jewellery products, while Menzgold focuses mainly on its gold trading business area, which we accepted.”
In effect, he said, “It was the BoG that advised the setting up of Brew Marketing Consult.”
The Prosecution represented by Watkins Adamah, a Senior State Attorney had earlier objected to NAM1’s request to adjourn case to enable him file his witness statement upon failing to comply with orders for nearly two years.
Justice Sedinam Awo Kwadam, the presiding judge, has adjourned the case to March 5, for Continuation.
Background
NAM1 and his two companies had pleaded not guilty to 39 counts of charges was granted bail in the sum of GHc500k with four sureties without justification. But had since acquitted on four, leaving 35 counts for them to answer to.
The bail terms also include an order for him to deposit his passport at the Registry of the Court and report to the CID headquarters every Thursday.
NAM1, who was also representing Menzgold Ghana Limited and Brew Marketing Consult, the other two accused persons, earlier said “My Lord, I’m not guilty” as he responds to charges.
The 39 counts comprised of a count each of selling gold contrary to section 99 (1) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703, Operating a deposit-taking business without a license contrary to section (1) and 22 (1) of the Banking and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930) and Inducement to invest contrary to section 344 of the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992),
The others include 22 counts of Defrauding by false pretense contrary to section 131 (1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), seven counts of fraudulent breach of trust contrary to section 128 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and seven counts if Money Laundering contrary to section 1(2)(a)(i) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044).
Brief facts
Per the brief fact states that, the 2nd accused person (A2), Menzgold Ghana Limited and the 3rd accused person (A3), Brew Marketing Consult Limited, are sister companies owned by the 1st accused person (A1), Nana Appiah Mensah alias NAM1.
It added that, Menzgold was first registered as Menzbank Ghana Company Limited in 2013 whereas Brew Marketing Comsult Limited was registered in December 2016.
It said, NAM1 is a director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult and also majority shareholder of both companies.
It stated that NAM1 operated Menzgold as a deposit-taking business under the guise of gold trading, without the requisite licence.
BoG public notice
According to the Prosecution, on March 11, 2015, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) issued a public notice to the effect that Menzbank was an unlicensed deposit- taking institution.
It said, NAM1, in a bid to circumvent the notice of BoG, changed the company’s name from Menzbank to Menzbanc.
It explained that, sometime in 2017, NAM1 further changed the company’s name from Menzbank to Menzgold Ghana Company
Limited.
The facts states that, the business module of NAM1 was that Brew Marketing Consult sold gold/gold collectibles/ gold dore to
the public for the purpose of investing same in Menzgold, when Brew Marketing Consult did not have a licence to sell gold.
Breach of restrictions
The Prosecution stated that, on August 22, 2016, the Minerals Commission, granted Menzgold a-three-year licence to purchase and export gold.
It said, the terms of the licence stipulated that Brew Marketing Consult was to purchase gold from small-scale miners for export only.
The brief facts stated that, Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult breached its restricted gold purchase and exportation licence by selling gold to persons in Ghana.
It said, in 2016, NAM1 and Menzgold established what they called gold vault market which provided the public with a platform to trade in gold and gold collectibles.
It added that, NAM1 and Menzgold, in an attempt to circumvent the requirements of the law, set up Brew Marketing Consult for the purposes of selling gold to the public to enable A2 to take the gold deposits.
The Prosecution stated that, between 2017 and 2018, NAM1 and Menzgold invited members of the public to purchase gold and gold collectibles from Brew Marketing Consult and deposit same with Menzgold.
It explained that, in various forms of invitations, the accused persons representing Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult as deposit-taking businesses, invited the members of the public to deposit purchased gold and gold collectibles with Menzgold in return for profits ranging from 7% to 10%.
Over 16, 000 complainants
It 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.
It said, Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult, continued with their operations despite several engagements and warning notices issued by the relevant agencies.
The Prosecution stated that, subsequently, members of the public started facing challenges either with delayed payments or reduced dividends; anumber of cheques issued by NAM1 and Menzgold were also dishonoured.
It said, on September 7, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) directed Menzgold to suspend its business for operating without a licence from the SEC.
Petition
It said, between November 2016 and March 2019, many customers of the accused persons petitioned the police complaining that they had invested huge sums of money with the accused persons but were unable to realise their investments after persistent efforts by them.
The prosecution stated that, investigations revealed that the accused persons under false pretences took a total sum of One billion, sixty hundred and eighty million, nine hundred and twenty thousand Ghana cedis (GH$1,680,920,000) from their customers which these customers have not recovered.
“Investigations further disclosed that between 2017 and 2018, the accused persons transferred huge sums of depositor’s funds from Menzgold Ghana Company Ltd. and Brew Marketing Consult Ltd to Zylofon Media, a company related to Al.
“Huge sums of money were also withdrawn by Al 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.
“In the course of investigations, a number of vehicles were recovered from the accused personswhich have been auctioned, and the proceeds kept in an exhibit account. Some gold bars were also recovered from the accused persons,” the brief facts stated.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
