Dr Sledge: Special Prosecutor Detains Goldridge Refinery Ltd CEO
- The special prosecutor's office arrested Nana Yaw Duodu, the CEO of Goldridge Refinery Ltd
- Nana Yaw Duodu, also known as Dr Sledge, was reportedly unable to meet bail conditions after his arrest
- The arrest has been linked to a controversial programme under the Akufo-Addo administration
The Office of the Special Prosecutor has detained Nana Yaw Duodu, the CEO of Goldridge Refinery Ltd, after he failed to meet bail conditions.
Per Joy News reports, Duodu, aka Dr Sledge, is under investigation for suspected corruption and corruption-related offences linked to the Minerals Income Investment Fund.
Source: Facebook
This is particularly in relation to the management of the Minerals Income Investment Fund gold trade programme.
It is alleged that over $94 million in state funds were lost through Goldridge Refinery’s failure to honour trade settlements under the Gold for Forex and Gold for Oil initiatives.
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The objective of the Gold for Forex programme was to shore up the cedi against volatility.
Minerals Income Investment Fund previously addressed the $90 million losses, saying its investigations revealed that the fund disbursed the cedi equivalent of $30 million in three tranches of $10 million each to its first aggregator, Goldridge, in 2023.
This monthly revolving outlay returned a monthly average of circa $60 million over a period of eleven months.
MIIF clarification on Gold for Oil
Minerals Income Investment Fund said its participation in the Gold for Oil programme, which has been terminated, did not involve any capital outlay from the fund.
It said its model involved oil bulk distribution companies providing cedis to the fund’s Trade Desk through the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors.
Source: Facebook
It said this generated forex of circa $650 million to support the payment of fuel supplies between February 2024 to September 2024.
The forex delivered to the oil import market was, however, sub-Bloomberg mid-rate, thereby bringing stability to the cedi and supporting the purchase of oil prices at the pump, as confirmed by the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors.
Who has the special prosecutor detained recently?
In August, the special prosecutor detained Paul Adom-Otchere to meet his bail conditions.
He was charged in connection with an ongoing investigation into a revenue assurance contract at the Ghana Airports Company Limited.
Adom-Otchere is a broadcaster and the former Board Chairman of the Ghana Airports Company Limited.
The Jospong Group of Companies eventually stepped in to secure bail for him. This was after he had spent overnight in custody. The bail conditions were described as too stringent.
Dr Sledge parades luxurious cars at Rapperholic
YEN.com.gh reported that in past displays of wealth, Duodu stole the spotlight with his grand entrance at the 2024 Rapperholic concert.
He displayed a collection of expensive, luxurious cars in a convoy. Accompanied by his wife, Amadia, they arrived at the event venue with eight cars.
The luxurious vehicles, worth millions of dollars, included a Ferrari 458 Italia, a Rolls-Royce Dawn, a Bentley Flying Spur, a Mercedes-Maybach S-Class, a Rolls-Royce Cullinan, two Range Rovers, and a Toyota Land Cruiser.
Proofreading by Samuel Gitonga, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
Source: YEN.com.gh
