The government has strongly stated that it will not pay any Menzgold customer with state money and has urged aggrieved customers to seek redress in court.
A statement signed by the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said the customers since April 2016 ignored several warnings by the Bank of Ghana and the Securities and Exchange Commission not to do business with Menzgold.
According to government, even though it sympathises with misfortune of the customers, it will only ensure that CEO of the troubled gold firm Nana Appiah Mensah is arrested and prosecuted according to the laws of the country.
“Menzgold was not licensed by BoG or SEC and its operations were not regulated by BoG or SEC. This warning was made as far back as April 2016, and, unfortunately, was disregarded by many customers of Menzgold. BoG and SEC are, therefore, not clothed with any legal mandate to refund monies to clients.
“In the case of banks and specialized deposit taking institutions, as well as asset management companies licensed and regulated by BOG and SEC, owing to the fact that these companies were regulated by BoG and SEC, the regulators are clothed with the legal mandate to intervene in their matters, in accordance with law. DKM, for example, was licensed by the BoG, the reason for which it stepped in to help retrieve the monies of depositors. In the case of Menzgold, it operated as a trading company and falls outside the scope of the regulators’ intervention,” parts of the statement read.
The statement added that “while government sympathizes with customers on the difficulties encountered in their transaction with the company, the State cannot and will not resort to the use of taxpayer’s monies to refund customers monies.
“Government wishes to inform the general public that the security agencies, having received reports from customers that they believe they have been defrauded by false pretenses, shall employ all the powers of the State to find the accused persons, investigate the allegations, and ensure that the law takes it course in this matter.”
Nana Appiah Mensah popularly known as NAM1 was declared wanted Wednesday by an Accra Circuit Court after customers failed on several occasions to retrieve their locked up investment with the company.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM
