‘You know next to nothing about NAM 1’s case’ – Kwame Akuffo tells Investigator

Kwame Akuffo, the lawyer for Nana Appiah Mensah, the CEO of defunct Menzgold Ghana Limited, has accused the lead investigator in the criminal case against his client of knowing next to nothing about the case.

This was in reaction to the testimony by the investigator, DSP Charles Nyarko, that Nana Appiah Mensah engaged in deposit-taking contrary to directives from the Bank of Ghana.

Kwame Akuffo, during cross-examination, accused the investigator of being oblivious to the facts of the case based on his responses to questions under oath.

The investigator in his witness-in-chief claimed that communications from the Bank of Ghana to the accused person and his company, Menzgold Ghana Limited, suggested that the central bank had warned the accused persons to desist from engaging in deposit-taking ventures without a license.

The investigator claimed that Nana Appiah Mensah, however, formed Brew Marketing Company to circumvent the directives of the BoG and continue with his deposit-taking activities.

But under cross-examination, Kwame Akuffo sought to suggest that the communications referred to from the Bank of Ghana did not mean his client was engaged in deposit-taking. The investigator, however, disagreed with this view, explaining that the history of operations of the company from 2013 until its closure in 2018 suggests it was involved in deposit-taking.

He further clarified that depending on the kind of activity being undertaken by a company, the activity can be under more than one regulatory body.

Kwame Akuffo further suggested that there is no evidence that the investigating team took any statement from an official of the Bank of Ghana. The witness answered in the affirmative but explained that a request from the CID to the Bank of Ghana received a response which showed the position of the Bank of Ghana on the matter.

But counsel for Nana Appiah Mensah inquired from the witness to point to any document on record that shows the correspondence on the matter. The witness, who could not point to any such document on the face of the record, however, insisted that such a correspondence exists but was not included in his witness statement.

Kwame Akuffo then suggested to the investigator that there was no evidence of such correspondence on the record because the investigator knew next to nothing about the case.

DSP Charles Nyarko disagreed and clarified that he has been a lead investigator on the matter since the complaints were first made in November 2018.

The case has been adjourned to Tuesday for Nana Appiah Mensah’s lawyers to continue with his cross-examination.