The Asante Professionals Club have disputed reports that one of its resource persons who addressed their recent public forum alluded to a lack of evidence by the state for the prosecution of Nana Appiah Mensah (NAM1).
The Executive Director of the Organised and Office Crime Office (EOCO), Maame Tiwaaa Addo-Danquah, was the guest speaker at the Asante Professionals Club’s last Kyere Mu online meeting held over the weekend.
According to multiple reports, the EOCO boss, as part of her presentation, stated that it has become difficult for the state to pursue the ongoing criminal case against the Chief Executive Officer of defunct Menzgold.
According to the reports, Maame Tiwaa indicated that it has rather become difficult for the state to pursue the case against NAM1 because there are no defined charges to support the evidence against him.
But in a statement dated August 23, 2022, the Asante Professionals Club has stated that the Executive Director of EOCO at no point mentioned NAM1 or evidence relating to his prosecution during her address.
“We wish to emphatically state that, at no point did she mention NAM 1 or evidence relating to his prosecution as contained in several media reports,” the statement signed by the President of the Club, Ama Serwah Nerquaye-Tetteh, said.
According to the think tank, Maame Tiwaa’s presentation, which was on the topic “Economic Crimes and Its Effects on the Nation”, was centred around challenges in prosecuting financial crimes across the globe due to the nature of such crimes.
“The Executive Director of EOCO underscored the importance of vigilance among the citizenry in order for them not to fall victim to financial scams, explaining that the processes involved in prosecuting such cases can be challenging due to the difficulty in obtaining evidence, especially in the case of online economic crimes.
“Expatiating on the need for vigilance, she cautioned against rushing into investing into entities, especially financial institutions without conducting the necessary due diligence, citing the example of Menzgold which several persons invested in despite several warnings and disclaimers from the appropriate State agencies,” the statement noted.
While entreating journalists to represent facts from the club’s meetings, it quoted the words of the EOCO boss around the issue of Menzgold to put the matter into context.
“The people should be made aware of their rights and remedies. Alongside this, stakeholders should be educated not only on how to be good citizens but also on how to steer clear from these criminal activities and avoid being victims of crimes. (e.g., Menzgold case where people did not listen). Furthermore, the faith of the people in the justice system should be restored by improving the system and also educating people on the approach they should take when faced with a crime so they can report it the right way and ensure they get justice,” the statement repeated the direct words of Maame Tiwaa.
NAM1 faces several counts of charges for the operations of his Menzgold investment firm, which collapsed in 2018.
The company, among other things, is said to have operated a ponzi scheme, which has thousands of investor funds locked up following a crackdown by the Bank of Ghana and the state security agencies.
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