Menzgold Case: Court of Appeal dismisses NAM1’s stay of proceedings

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an application for Stay of Proceedings from Chief Executive Officer of defunct Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah as he was unable to raise any exceptional circumstances for the court to exercise its discretion in his favour.

Nana Appiah Mensah, affectionately called NAM1 had filed a notice of appeal to challenge an order of the High Court on July 11, 2024 for him to open his Defence to charges over the misappropriation customers funds.

With his appeal yet to be heard, his initial request to the High Court for proceedings to be stayed was dismissed by the trial judge, Justice Ernest Owusu Dapaah.

Dissatisfied with the dismissal, NAM1 and his lawyers repeated the application at the Court of Appeal, the second highest court in Ghana it it to put the trial at the High Court on hold.

On Monday, May 19, 2025, a three member panel of the Court of Appeal presided over by Justice Gbiel S. Suurbaareh held that, NAM1 was unable to raise any exceptional circumstances for the Court to exercise discretion in his favour.

The panel which also include Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe and Justice Christopher Archer consequently dismissed NAM1’s request for Stay of Proceedings.

This was after his lawyer led by Kwame Boafo Akuffo had moved the application for Stay of Proceedings and same was opposed to by Prosecution led by Watkins Adamah.

EIB Network’s Legal Affairs Correspondent, Murtala Inusah, who was in Court reports that, what the decision of the Court of Appeal mean is that, the trial and the High Court will proceed. The High Court case will come up again on May 28, 2025.

On July 11, 2024, the embattled Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of defunct Menzgold Ghana Limited, Nana Appiah Mensah, popularly known as NAM1, and his two companies were ordered to open their defense to answer charges in the Menzgold case.

That decision followed the High Court in Accra’s dismissal of his submission of no case to answer.

The Court ruled that the prosecution, through its nine witnesses, had been able to establish prima facie evidence against them in 35 out of the 39 counts. Justice Ernest Owusu-Dapaa, while analyzing the 39 counts, determined that the Court needs to hear from the accused.

Background

NAM1 pleaded not guilty to 39 counts of fresh charges and was granted bail in the sum of GH¢500,000 with four sureties without justification.

The bail terms included an order for him to deposit his passport at the Registry of the Court and report to the CID headquarters every Thursday.

NAM1, representing Menzgold Ghana Limited and Brew Marketing Consult, also pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The 39 counts included selling gold contrary to section 99(1) of the Minerals and Mining Act, operating a deposit-taking business without a license contrary to sections 6(1) and 22(1) of the Banking and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, and inducement to invest contrary to section 344 of the Companies Act, 2019.

Other charges included 22 counts of defrauding by false pretense contrary to section 131(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960, seven counts of fraudulent breach of trust contrary to section 128 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960, and seven counts of money laundering contrary to section 1(2)(a)(i) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020.

Brief Facts

Menzgold Ghana Limited and Brew Marketing Consult Limited are sister companies owned by NAM1. Menzgold was initially registered as Menzbank Ghana Company Limited in 2013, while Brew Marketing Consult Limited was registered in December 2016. NAM1 is the director and CEO of both companies and the majority shareholder.

NAM1 operated Menzgold as a deposit-taking business under the guise of gold trading without the requisite license. On March 11, 2015, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) issued a public notice stating that Menzbank was an unlicensed deposit-taking institution.

In response, NAM1 changed the company’s name from Menzbank to Menzbanc and later to Menzgold Ghana Company Limited in 2017.

The business model involved Brew Marketing Consult selling gold to the public for investment purposes in Menzgold, despite not having a license to sell gold. In 2016, the Minerals Commission granted Menzgold a three-year license to purchase and export gold, restricted to purchasing gold from small-scale miners for export only.

However, Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult breached this license by selling gold to persons in Ghana.

Between 2017 and 2018, NAM1 and Menzgold invited the public to purchase gold from Brew Marketing Consult and deposit it with Menzgold in return for profits.

Over 16,000 people responded, depositing significant sums of money with the expectation of returns.

Despite warnings from relevant agencies, Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult continued their operations. In September 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) directed Menzgold to suspend its business for operating without a license.

Petition and Investigations

Between November 2016 and March 2019, many customers of Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult petitioned the police, complaining that they were unable to recover their investments. Investigations revealed that the accused took a total of GH¢1,680,920,000 from customers under false pretenses.

The investigations further disclosed that significant sums of depositor’s funds were transferred to Zylofon Media, a related company, and into NAM1’s personal bank account for personal use.

The funds remained unpaid as Menzgold’s license was revoked. During investigations, several vehicles and gold bars were recovered from the accused, which have been auctioned, and the proceeds kept in an exhibit account.