NAM1 on bail in Dubai but still being tried; Ghana can't have him now – CID

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has revealed that they are unable to have the CEO of the defunct Menzgold Company Limited, Nana Appiah Mensah, also known as NAM1, extradited to Ghana even though he is on bail.

The extradition cannot be done until the completion of his trial in the United Arab Emirates.

The embattled CEO of the gold dealership firm is being held for a misdemeanour charge over a US$23-million deal gone bad.

A Dubai-based businessman reported Mr Mensah for fraud in May 2018. Unaware that he was on the Dubai police’s wanted list, Mr Mensah went to the Emirates with the hope of receiving a huge amount of money due him as a result of his earlier transactions with the Emirati, only to be arrested when he presented his passport to undergo immigration formalities.

“On the 4th of March, NAM1 was granted bail and there were some conditions for his bail. On 25th of March, he was able to execute the bail and his lawyers obtained the letter for his release. Due to the red alert notice on him, he was rearrested on the instructions of Interpol. The Dubai police have gone ahead to obtain a local warrant of arrest based on the Interpol red notice. He is currently in the custody at a Dubai Police station and that case, even though he is on bail, hasn’t ended; they will continue to produce him before the court until that case is over before he is handed over to Ghana. We are in touch with the Dubai Police and everything is on course,” CID Director-General DCOP Maame Tiwaa Addo Danquah, said at a press conference on Tuesday, 2 April 2019.

Thousands of customers of the defunct company are demanding the arrest and prosecution of NAM1 for his failure to pay their locked-up investments.

The customers have embarked on a series of protests and demanded to be part of the committee set up to oversee the liquidation of assets belonging to the company and NAM1.

The customers have also called on the government to publish in the media, all the assets of NAM1 and the company which the state has so far confiscated to defray the debt owed its customers.

According to the disgruntled customers, their intelligence suggests that the committee may not be truthful with the sale of the property.

The customers said these when they picketed the premises of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and the Attorney General’s office today, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 over what they describe as government’s feet-dragging attitude towards their plight.

The customers said the picketing is part of the measures they have at their disposal to pile pressure on the government and state agencies to help them retrieve their locked-up funds.