Menzgold And Four Other Ghanaian Financial Investment Schemes That Turned Out To Be Fiascos
Following the continued travails of aggrieved Menzgold customers in a saga that has spanned six years, YEN.com.gh takes a look back at some financial schemes that ended in controversy.
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The last 10 years have seen some turbulence in Ghana's financial sector with the Bank of Ghana and Securities Exchange Commission that resulted in the controversial financial sector clean up which cost the state GH¢21 billion.
However, while customers of licensed financial institutions were assured of retrieving their investment with minimal losses, some persons who invested in questionable financial schemes were not so lucky.
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Notable among them are the customers of Menzgold Ghana, who have been chasing their investments since 2018, amid fraud concerns.
In line with this, YEN.com.gh looks back on Menzgold and some other finance schemes that have turned out to be major failures.
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Menzgold Ghana Limited
Menzgold, a gold collectables firm, had been flagged as a questionable firm as far back as 2014 when it went by the name Menzbank during operations in Kasoa. In 2015, the Bank of Ghana issued a warning to the public to avoid dealings with Menzgold.
In 2018, Menzgold suspended its operations after an order from the Securities and Exchange Commission because it was purchasing and depositing gold collectables without a license.
Currently, the Menzgold CEO Nana Appiah Mensah, alias NAM1; his wife, and his sister stand accused of using Menzgold to defraud more than 16,000 people of GH¢1.68 billion. NAM1 was also arrested in January 2019 in Dubai and granted bail.
Over 10,000 of Menzgold's customers are still chasing their investments.
DKM Diamond Microfinance
DKM was incorporated on April 3, 2013, and licensed by the Bank of Ghana as a tier-two microfinance company. But fast-forward to 2015 and the company has a net liability of GH¢ 21 million. The company, at the time its license was revoked by the BoG on February 29, 2016, had 10 branches with two agency offices and six subsidiaries.
Though the central bank subsequently lifted the ban on the company’s operations, DKM was unable to pay its customers their locked-up cash, leading to the liquidation of the financial company.
During the liquidation process of DKM, it was established that 87,000 customers were entitled to receive GH¢352 million. The government had assured that all the DKM customers would be settled. But some customers have still been agitating for their payments.
God is Love Fun Club
The God is Love Fun Club CEO, Monica Afriyie was arrested by the then-Bureau of National Investigations because of her management of her firm. She was arrested alongside one Nortey Noel.
God Is Love had been blacklisted by the Bank of Ghana at the time. In the course of investigations, it was found out that Afriyie had allegedly collected monies from a number of clients to the tune of GH¢100 million.
Jastar Motors and Investment Company
Charles Asum, the founder of Jastar Motors and Investment Company, was arrested following the collapse of his company in 2015.
He was alleged to have misappropriated GH¢20 million of customer deposits and was arrested by the then-Bureau of National Investigations. The Bank of Ghana made moves to liquidate the assets of Jastar to settle customers.
Loom
Loom was an unlicensed investment scheme that Ghana's Securities and Exchange Commission cautioned the public against.
Loom was a peer-to-peer scheme which involved people being invited to invest as little as GH¢20 with the promise of a return eight times its value within a short period of time.
The warnings were not heeded by some Ghanaians, who were seen in WhatsApp groups engaged in such investments. The Economic and Organised Crime Office stressed that Loom was a scam and a "pyramid scheme disguised as something new".
Bagbin assures of probe into Menzgold saga
In a related story, YEN.com.gh reported that the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, assured aggrieved Menzgold customers that their petition to resolve the saga would be considered.
The aggrieved customers of the defunct company called on the Speaker of Parliament on August 2, 2023.
Bagbin said he plans to set up a five-member committee to probe the matter before consideration by Parliament.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
