Scores of customers of Menzgold who were arrested by the Police on Wednesday for massing up at the Trassaco residence of the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nana Appiah Mensah, popularly known as NAM1, have been granted bail.
This comes after they initially encountered challenges in meeting the bail conditions.
About 90 of the customers were arrested by the police for trespassing, unlawful entry and allegedly causing injury to the security detail at NAM1’s residence.
The customers were at the residence of NAM1 to demand their locked-up investments.
Police officials from the Accra Regional Command claimed they arrested the customers to maintain order.
Spokesperson for the Coalition of Aggrieved Customers of Menzgold, Francis Owusu in an earlier interview said “They [police] have granted us bail, but we are to provide one surety each before we will be allowed to go. So we are still stranded here looking for relatives and friends to come and help us secure our bail.”
But when Frederick Forson, another spokesperson for the group spoke on the Citi Breakfast Show on Thursday, he said all the arrested persons were granted bail by Wednesday night.
“By the grace of God, yesterday [Wednesday], our legal team was present and they were able to help us secure bail for all the people who were arrested so all of them left the premises,” he said.
Background
Following an order from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to suspend aspects of its operations in 2018, Menzgold has since been struggling to pay its customers their monies.
Management of the gold dealership firm on December 27 2019, said close to 200 customers had received their locked-up funds, a claim the customers disputed.
Why customers stormed NAM1’s residence
Spokesperson for the Coalition of Aggrieved Customers of Menzgold, Francis Owusu, on Eyewitness News said the reason why they stormed the residence of NAM1 was to demand from him a list of the people he claimed he had so far paid.
“For almost one week now, Nana Appiah Mensah and his Menzgold have been telling lies to the general public that they have paid 200 of their customers which is false. So, as customers in the various regions, we decided that we will pay Nana Appiah Mensah a visit and find out from him the people that he keeps telling the general public that he has been paying. Lo and behold we were able to get to his place at Trassaco valley. When we got to the gate, we asked the security man at the gate of Nana Appiah Mensah’s residence to allow us in; and he opened the gate for us and we entered the premises,” Francis Owusu explained.
According to the customers, they did not break into the residence contrary to earlier reports that they forced their way into the Trassaco Valley Estates.
“Actually, we didn’t enter Nana Appiah Mensah’s house, we were just in front of his gate. All of a sudden we heard three gunshots from his house and then the internal security at Trassaco came around and we approached them and they asked us what we were here for and we told them we were here to demand from Nana Appiah Mensah our investments,” Mr, Owusu added.
He said they are determined to retrieve their investments through every means possible, adding that “this was just the beginning” of several actions they intend to take.