Chief Executive of defunct gold dealership firm Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah has been dragged to court for allegedly defrauding 16,000 customers of more than 1.68 billion cedis.

The alleged fraud occurred within a 20-month period between January 2017 and September 2018, JoyNews has learnt from court documents filed by the state.

The businessman and socialite was charged in court Friday after finally returning to Ghana Thursday. He had spent more than six months in Dubai after absconding in January.

Popularly called NAM1, he was declared as one of Ghana’s most wanted appeared in court briefly as the Attorney-General slapped him with two counts of abetment to defraud by false pretence and two counts of abetment to carry out banking business without license contrary to section 6(1) of the banks and specialized deposit-taking institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930).

Nana Appiah Mensah is also representing his two companies, Brew Marketing Consult and Menzgold Ghana Limited, which have each been charged with defrauding by false pretence contrary to sections 20(1) and 13(1) of the criminal offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).

Also facing the law are his sister and wife respectively Benedicta Appiah and Rose Tetteh who have been slapped with two counts of abetment to defraud by false pretence and two counts of abetment to carry out banking business without licence contrary to section 6(1) of Act 930. 

The two women are however at large.

The charge sheet states that between January 2017 and September 2018, Brew Marketing Consult and Menzgold defrauded one Francis Agodzie and 16,000 others of more than 1.68billion.  His wife and sister are said to have aided Menzgold to carry out the act.