Menzgold Saga: NAM1 Defends Screening Of Aggrieved Customers Demanding Locked-Up Funds

• CEO of the defunct Menzgold Ghana, Nana Appiah Mensah, has defended the verification process for aggrieved customers
• Mensah has said the verification process has contributed to calming tensions between Menzgold and its customers
• A spokesperson of the aggrieved customers told YEN.com.gh that they will treat the process as another scam

The embattled CEO of the defunct Menzgold Ghana, Nana Appiah Mensah, has defended the verification process for customers with locked-up funds.

Mensah, popularly known as NAM1, explained that the company could not just settle monies without proper evidence.

He earlier told customers with funds locked up with the company to buy a "Menzgold Traders Transactions Status Verification Access Card" said to cost GH¢600.

On a Twitter space hosted by Serwaa Amihere, NAM1 also urged his customers to be patient with the process.

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"I do not think you would disagree with me in principle that If we are subjecting claimants to any form of screening system, you would want to say we should forget about that and then just proceed to pay anybody that is claiming we owe him or her," he said.

NAM1 also refuted claims Menzgold is not making payments to aggrieved customers.

According to him, Menzgold has paid over 5,000 aggrieved customers even before the ongoing verification process.

NAM1, however, did not disclose the total number of aggrieved customers of his company.

He believes the verification process has ultimately organised the process.

"It was important to manage the situation so that we do not disturb public peace with this our business impasse. So based on strategy, we decided that every now and then, we would expedite action on some transactions that may have risen," NAM1 explained.

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Aggrieved customers still opposed to verification process

Responding to these developments in an interview with YEN.com.gh, the convener of the aggrieved customers, Frederick Forson, said his cohort still did not believe in the verification process.

"It is another attempt to defraud us... even if it is free, we won't patronise it," he said.

Forson said fellow aggrieved customers are listening to his advice to stay away from the verification process.

He further believes NAM1 is exhibiting some signs of desperation with his latest comments on the validation process.

"He is finding it difficult to sell his latest product. That is why in the space of two weeks, he has released about three different statements," he said.

Alleged fraud from Menzgold

NAM1, his wife, and his sister have been accused of using Menzgold to defraud more than 16,000 people of GH¢1.68 billion.

YEN.com.gh reported when NAM1 was first arrested in January 2019 in Dubai and granted bail.

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Menzgold suspended its operations after an order from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Menzgold was purchasing and depositing gold collectables without a license.

Previous attempts at settling customers

In 2021, YEN.com.gh reported that Menzgold announced the list of eligible customers to receive payment of their locked-up funds. At the time, Menzgold listed 181 customers as eligible customers.

But according to spokespersons of the affected customers, they've still not been settled by the defunct company,

Most recently, on July 30, 2023, Menzgold said it had completed a verification exercise and was working towards paying customers.

Source: YEN.com.gh