By Adu Koranteng
Chief Executive officer of the embattled gold firm, Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah, popularly known as NAM1has appealed government to unfreeze his assets to enable him pay his debts.
Nana Appiah Mensah’s assets and bank accounts were frozen by the Economic and Organised Crime Office early this year in the United Arab Emirates over allegations of fraud.
The Chief Executive Officer of Menzgold was arrested and processed for court on his return to Ghana a month ago and is standing trial for defrauding by false pretence and money laundering after his gold dealership company failed to honour obligations to thousands of depositors.
The move by the State, NAM 1 said at a press conference in Accra yesterday, is making it difficult for him to pay his impatient customers.
“We cannot make any payment when our bank accounts are still frozen. We are on our knees, we are lying prostrate before government” he added.
NAM 1 wants the government to among other things:
Assist to retrieve monies owed it by other foreign companies.
Unfreeze his companies and his personal bank account to allow the firm resolve its liabilities immediately.
Clearly give directions on which regulator has jurisdiction and supervision over Menzgold’s business model.
Menzgold, he says, is an innovative breakthrough that needs to be supported and not fought.
FULL SPEECH: NAM1 officially speaks first time after arrest, return from Dubai
Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press.
Thank you for coming to this event meant to provide you with the detailed state
of our companies especially, what has bedeviled Menzgold for the past twelve
months and the way forward.
May I state humbly that, this communication is without Prejudice.
First of all, let me start by praying the almighty God for grace today and to
thank him gratefully as we count our many blessings.
Let me also take the opportunity to thank the Government of Ghana; Ambassador
of Ghana to the United Arab Emirates; His Excellency Alhaji Ahmed Ramadan, for
the consular services extended to me during my eight months detention in Dubai.
I thank the Ghana Police Service for the warm reception and the exhibit of professionalism
in the discharge of their duty on my arrival to Ghana on the 11th July,
2019.
I express my greatest form of immense gratitude to the ruler of Dubai, His
Royal Highness Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in his gracious name the
Dubai Prosecutions and the Dubai Courts exhibited the highest form of
integrity, by boldly upholding the rule of law, handing me justice before the
Dubai first instance and superior Courts in the case number 68807/2018, an
acquittal and discharge. May Allah, ever merciful, most compassionate bless and
prosper Dubai forever. Allah Kareem.
I owe an immense debt of gratitude to the people of Ghana, our legal team
abroad and in Ghana, led by Mr. Kwame Boafo Akuffo, my brother and my good
friend; who has been resolute, exhibited loyalty and courage in the face our
adversity, exhibiting his service and commitment to nothing but the law.
Today, I cannot forget to bless the over one thousand staff of Menzgold,
Zylofon Media, Brew Marketing Consult and all our other companies in Ghana, as
well as our families for their unwavering support, since the unfortunate events
of the past few months. To you all I say; you made a good choice which would be
well rewarded by God almighty, especially Mr. Kwame Boafo, like the biblical Moses,
you chose to side and share in the afflicting of God’s people, instead of
enjoying the temporary pleasures of sin. Thank you so much.
I also reserve my biggest gratitude to our cherished Menzgold customers for
their continued support, encouragement, loyalty and prayers through the trying
times. Thank you.
Even though I am still receiving the much-needed medical attention,
swellings-blood clots in my pelvic region and knees with excruciating pains
following a past surgical procedure, due to my well-publicized long nine-months
detention in Dubai and Ghana. Regardless, I deem it very fit to make this
address to the general public, especially to Menzgold customers in a bid to
keep them abreast with the on goings.
Menzgold Ghana Company Limited is a licensed reputable Ghanaian gold dealership
firm, with six years of impeccable and enviable service delivery and gold
trading record. It would interest you to know that in five years, Menzgold
consistently met the demands of its customers, suppliers and foreign partners
who do business with us, but for the force majeure; the regulatory questions
raised by the Bank of Ghana and the Securities and Exchange Commission;
regulatory intervention of which we respectfully contested and is still before
the Ghanaian courts of law.
A question of statutory interpretation of; as to whether or not the trading of
gold collectibles or jewelry and the return of monthly profits on same to
traders is, “Deposits-Taking” or “Deposits Mobilization” Activity or “trade in
Securities”. As to whether or not the exports of tons of gold dore bars of very
fine percentage purity, with many evidence of inflows in forex via the bank of
Ghana is a “Ponzi scheme?”, praying the just and august Ghanaian Courts to make
consequential orders to repair Menzgold damage, if any.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Menzgold got very successful with its gold dealership
business, resulting in the buying of gold, exports and the produce of fine gold
collectibles (jewelries) to satisfy the domestic market, an innovative drive in
adherence to the government’s campaign for made in Ghana goods. We saw the need
to embark on a drive for international expansion in a quest to broaden our
market share size, which saw the openings of some international outlets in
Madrid, London and Lagos.
The famous “shut-down” letter landed our business, staff, customers and
shareholders a catastrophic blow, which sadly led to many very horrific
occurrences that brought untold economic hardship to our families, our dear
customers and the staff body of all our companies, many of whom are customers
too due to the reputable nature of our business.
To you all who suffered various degrees of upsets, being it directly or
indirectly, we share equally in your pain. With God on our side, we shall soon
change this sad Menzgold tale to a very happy narrative, as i grasp a resolve
now to drive Menzgold from good to great.
The Menzgold product line that has been questioned, is one that is just an act
of innovation characterized by most businesses worldwide. We sought to build a
word processor out of a typewriter in our line of business, with the hope of
being encouraged to create wealth in the face of globalization.
I noticed that, the 21st century witnesses a blowing wave of globalization, yet
Africa has seen limited technological innovative advancements, which stifle our
economic growth and lame our progress due to lack of will to invest in the
difficult task of creating new things, this turn to make companies in Africa
fail in the future, no matter how big a company’s stated capital is or who is
in the helm of affairs. With this background juxtaposed with my vision and
drive to build a business that would surpass our generation, innovation was the
only option.
As it turned out with the “cease and desist” directive from the Securities and
Exchange Commission, the need arose for us to mobilize Company assets,
especially outstanding payments due to our company from several companies and
individual buyers in several countries, particularly in the United Arab
Emirates to meet the payment obligations owed to Menzgold traders/customers and
other business associates.
It was in this regard that I embarked on the pursuit of Company assets/debt
recovery overseas. In the course of my pursuits, upon my arrival in Dubai on
the 7th December, 2017, I was framed by one of the companies; Horizon Royal
Diamond, which owes our Company 750kgs of gold, valued at usd$39,000,000
dollars, believing that Menzgold is doomed for closure, due to the unfavorable
media reportage and customers protests in Ghana, hence, tabled a bogus claim
that they have been defrauded by another Ghanaian Company; Just Gold Company
Linited, with frivolous claims of the Just Gold limited having associations
with our Company, which is very false.
The subsequent action by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to
freeze Menzgold and my personal assets further hardened the resolve of some of
our debtors who thought Menzgold was a thing of the past.
Following my graceful acquittal and discharge in the Dubai Superior Court, the
need arose for me to return to Ghana immediately on the call of the Interpol
red notice, to answer criminal charges on the same customers debt portfolio
before the Ghanaian Court, the very reason why I went to Dubai in the first
place. A call that restrained me from laying claim to the funds I went to the
UAE to recoup.
All companies worldwide have liabilities in its books and so do Menzgold.
Business in summary is all about owing and being owed. We at Menzgold are
committed and do express our willingness to service our debts portfolios to our
customers and business associates as soon as we can with a given opportunity.
We respectfully pray the Ghanaian authorities to cooperate with us to achieve
the following;
1. To assist us make full recovery of the amount owed Menzgold by Horizon Royal
Diamond in Dubai. As an act of good faith, we are willing to engage the
Attorney General’s office on the best possible way for the them to aid Menzgold
by employing international law and diplomatic relations to ensure we achieve
this objective.
2. To unfreeze our Companies and my personal bank accounts and assets for us to
utilize these as vehicles to get productive in other to meet our liabilities,
owed to our customers and some business associates in our bid to resolve our
liabilities immediately. As of now, Brew Marketing Consult, Menzgold and I
cannot credit or debit any bank account in Ghana. This is why it is highly
imperative to consider this kind request, as I believe, government shares in
our resolve and would do all that which is needful in our quest to satisfy the
populace, who are our customers.
3. To clearly give direction as to which
government agent or agency has jurisdiction to regulate the activity of a “gold
collectible/jewelry trade” in Ghana, just so we can apply for the necessary
certifications in other to proceed with our business in a fair and sound
manner.
As we have publicly demonstrated, we are open to
fair supervision and are opposed to no supervision, misconceived supervision or
supervision with malicious intents, respectfully. The founders of PayPal; Elon
Musk and co.; set out to create a new internet currency to replace the US
Dollar, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg’s first product was designed to only get his
classmates signed up, not the earth’s population, Travis Kalanick and Garrett
Camp’s Uber, started only to supplement the taxi fleet in San Francisco, Brian
Chesky, Joe and Nathan started Airbnb as a means to rent out an unused space in
their abode to get income to supplement a deficit for a pending event, Evan
Spiegel, Bobby and Reggie started what came to be known today as SnapChat, as
sending naughty disappearing fun photos when they were all student at Stanford
University.
America’s media called it a “sexting App”, Jeff
Bezos started Amazon as a digital bookstore in a garage, was heckled by the big
players in the books retailing business, Jack Ma fought through and achieved
Alibaba in China and the list goes on. All of these innovative breakthroughs
had regulatory questions, suffered bad press. Uber and Airbnb particularly have
suffered global protests, Travis Kalanick; founder and first CEO of Uber
especially, fought many regulatory and legal battles.
Today, these great Innovative Companies are
pillars of the great Silicon Valley, receiving global tributes for the United
States of America. These are just symptoms of disruptive business ideas.
Menzgold is today characterized by same traits and I have no doubt in mind
that, our company is on the path to greatness and global prominence.
IF these three propositions are reviewed and
considered, we shall confidently proceed to make the necessary arrangements to
start paying our customers immediately under my watch. This i say with my
personal guarantee.
While my detention in Dubai was a harrowing,
daunting, terrific and horrific experience, I am grateful to God because I feel
very refined.
It has made me older than my age as we grow in
our experiences and not in years. I am fulfilled and ready for greater exploits,
highly motivated to add up to our previous gain. I am happy about the
disruption, a key trait about a successful business prospect in this
information age, is the ability to scale. As Mario Andretti, a champion car
racer rightly puts it, “If everything is under control, you’re just not going
fast enough”.
Zylofon Media is an entertainment media business
built upon technical expertise such as creating, composing, storytelling and
performance. It’s also built on innovation just like Menzgold, employing technology
to develop new breakthroughs in arts, traditional and digital media products.
Tomorrow would witness a Zylofon Media that can
be described as a multifunctional media in the digital space, which would cater
for a wide variety of international interest and needs.
It would comfort you to note, that Zylofon Media
is not just another media firm; we are a media and Arts technology company. Our
competitors are not in Ghana, they are far away in the Silicon Valley,
California. To you I say, Ants that unite can beat an elephant. Admittedly, we
have made some pretty good losses. We are happy about our loss having been a
disruptive art and media business. We wear our loss as a badge of honor. Our
loss depicts our grand ambition. By natural law, you have to go through a
thunder storm to see the rainbow. Our eyes are still set on the colorful
rainbow. We shall succeed.
Brew Marketing Consult Co. limited is a
marketing company. A Commodity broker of a sort, which works for commissions by
matching selling and buying leads. I encourage Companies worldwide with
marketing needs in Ghana and Africa to take advantage of Brew Marketing’s great
professional marketing prowess, as the company did for Menzgold, resulting in
Menzgold’s mighty growth.
To the staff body of all our companies, I
couldn’t have been more proud of you for standing resolute in the face of
adversity. I encourage you to continue to stand strong as we navigate the path
of soon meeting up to the demands of our cherished customers.
To our Menzgold customers, we note that you have
experienced an increased level of anxiety and concern, but have been extremely
understanding and patient with us through these trying times. We continue to
recognize and respect your sacrifice, please remember that your patience and
support for us is not an entitlement, but something we earned by the way we
worked with you diligently over the past years. I can assure you that, it would
pay off favorably soon.
Together, we are very conscious of our
responsibilities towards you our cherished esteemed customers and we will do
everything we can to individually and collectively meet your expectations.
To the government of Ghana, we applaud you for
not “sparing the rod and spoiling the child”, we’ve got your message, we’ve
grown and are ready to accept and take up responsibility, if any.
I want to reiterate, that I do not seek
political office or power, My goal towards contributing for the good of Ghana
and Africa, is missionary and not mercenary. Clearly, my willingness to be misunderstood
is the basis of our many criticisms and the exercise of brute force and skewed
media reportage witnessed against our outfits in the last twelve months. I am
an entrepreneur and remains as such.
Last but not the least, to the many Ghanaian and
African youth, as well as the aged who believes in me and the Nam Mission. We
shall continue to contribute to those in authority, for creation of the new
Ghana and the new Africa for the new Ghanaian and the new African, in the new
African socio-economic front. I am well aware, that many of you crave African
posterity, to you all I ask; The Egyptian who conceived the idea of the pyramid
and actually built it, had same natural abilities we have with less access to
information than we do today, yet succeeded. Which African would build the next
“Egyptian pyramid”? Ghana Shall Prosper, Africa would be great again.
Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you all for coming.
