Former owner of gold dealership, Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah, has sued freelance journalist and Host of Metro TV’s News Night, Bridget Otoo for defamation, seeking GHC 1 million in compensation.
According to the lawsuit, Nana Appiah Mensah claims the journalist defamed him in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on October 21, where he alleges she called him a “fraudster.”
He says further in court filings that the journalist’s comment breached his right to a fair trial, in the ongoing criminal case against him, alleging further that it has caused him reputational damage.
Widely Known as NAM 1, Mensah has since 2019 been facing charges of fraud and money laundering following the collapse of his firm, Menzgold Ghana Limited. The company collapsed after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Bank of Ghana found it to have breached regulatory procedures.
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Experts had also said the business model of the firm and its sister companies, took the nature of a Ponzi scheme, leaving customers to the scourge of a bogus investment.
On August 30, the Attorney-General filed new charges against him, after his case at the Circuit Court had remained pending for three years.
NAM 1, appearing before a High Court in September following the transfer of the case to that court, pleaded not guilty. The court then granted him bail of GhC500 million and adjourned the matter to November 17.
In October, he claimed he handed a sum of GH¢5 million to the Ghana Police Service to be distributed to aggrieved customers of Menzgold.
But the police in a statement said it had only taken receipt of GH¢2.5 million and not the GH¢5 million NAM 1 alluded to. On advice from the Attorney-General, the Police further said it deposited that money into an account at the Bank of Ghana (BoG) for the attention of the Court.
It added: “the amount is part of investigations into petitions received from some customers of MenzGold Ghana Company Limited and Brew Marketing Consult Limited, currently before the Accra High Court against suspect Nana Appiah Mensah, popularly known as NAM 1.”
