Gbegoueu Evrard, a French national, is said to have collected the money under the pretext of selling to the complainant, Hayford Boadi, gold but failed.

Evrard is facing a charge of defrauding by false pretences.

His accomplices are Ernest Kweku Antwi, a 32-year-old aluminum fabricator, and Jordan Ansah, a 24-year-old private security man.

Evrard and his two accomplices have been jointly charged with conspiracy to commit crime to wit defrauding by false pretence.

Antwi and Ansah have pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Evrard ‘s plea could not be taken by the court because there was no French interpreter available. It therefore preserved his plea.

The court presided over by Mr Isaac Addo ordered the Registrar of the court to make arrangement for a French interpreter to assist the court at the next sitting on March 13, 2024

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Stephen Ahiale said the complainant was a resident of Dunkwa-on-Offin in the Central Region.

Prosecution said during the year 2021, Evrard told a witness that he had a friend in Ghana who dealt in refined gold.

The prosecution said the witness contacted the complainant and informed him about the business which he (the complainant) expressed interest in.

ASP Ahiale said the complainant later contacted Evrard on mobile phone through the said witness to import the raw gold and Evrard told them that his friend who was a gold dealer needed some money to perform some rituals on the gold before it could be sold out.

Prosecution said to convince the complainant and the witness, Evrard took photographs of himself and the said gold and forwarded them.

Based on that representation, the complainant parted with GH₵620,000 in bits to Evrard, through the witness for the said rituals.

However, after Evrard collected the money, he failed to  honour his promise and “kept tossing the complainant and witness with different stories.”

In February 2024, the witness lured Evrard with another Gold business transaction for a white man client in Accra.

Prosecution said Evrard on hearing the quantum of money involved, he quickly conspired with Antwi and Ansah and one Abdallah, now at large, to defraud the witness.

The prosecutor said Evrard invited the witness to meet him in Accra in a few days to see the said gold.

Prosecution said the witness on his arrival in Accra from Ivory Coast reported the case to the Police for investigations.

On February 20, 2024, Evrard met the witness in Accra and took him to a gated house at Lapaz Fishpond to meet one Abdullai who was his partner for the said gold business.

While the said business meeting was going on in the house, the Police swiftly entered and arrested the three accused persons with five coated metallic objects, looking like refined gold bars in their possession.

Prosecution said Abdullai however managed to escape through a back door of the house.

The court was told that the exhibits were being forwarded for an Assay testing and report to enhance investigations.

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According to PMMC, the gold scammers presented fake photos and videos of gold available for sale.

 “Some of these eventually turn out to be gold-plated tungsten,” the PMMC said in a statement.

The fraudsters are able to convince their victims to provide huge amounts for the purposes of transporting the gold from the mining sites or specific locations to Accra for a sale transaction.

Transportation

“Once the money for the supposed transportation of the gold is received by the scammers, various excuses are now given as reasons for their failure to deliver the gold to Accra.

 The scammers use these excuses to claim more money to facilitate the delivery of the gold,” the statement said.

In addition to this, the scammers also export some gram or a kilo of gold, purposely to win the confidence and trust of their victims and also to prove their capacity to supply larger quantities.

Once the victim’s trust is won, demands for huge sums of money are made after which the fraudsters disappear, leaving their victims frustrated.

Scammers

The statement advised the public and individuals interested in the purchase of gold to be cautious and not to fall prey to the fraudulent schemes of the scammers.

Prospective gold buyers have been encouraged to conduct due diligence to ensure that they are getting value for money.

“At all times the usual caveat emptor precautions should be adhered to,” the statement added.

The statement signed by the Managing Director of the PMMC, Nana Akwasi Awuah, advised prospective gold buyers to contact PMMC, the only recognised national assayer, to supervise their gold purchase transactions.

In recent years, it has been home to a multi-billion-dollar industry which, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, accounts for nearly half of the country’s exports.

But this rich resource has also attracted a network of scammers who, posing as legitimate gold traders, dupe buyers out of their money.

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The argument that Nana Addo could not have been Mathias’ lawyer when the president himself does not remember whether he was Mathias’ lawyer is spurious and diversionary.

Nana Addo is an admitted friend of the alleged kingpin gold smuggler and money launderer for gold deals.

Period! Befriending a criminal gang member and/or financial architect is typical of the previous conduct of the President of Ghana.  

President Akufo-Addo’s response to Al Jazeera when it sought his comments about a statement made by Alistair Mathias, a Canadian, described as a financial architect that the Ghanaian president is Alistair Mathias’ good friend – in fact was his lawyer, was reported by Al Jazeera as follows: “President Akufo-Addo of Ghana told us that he had no recollection of acting as a lawyer for Alistair Mathias or his company.” Episode 4 of the Al Jazeera “Gold Mafia” documentary is a must-watch on: full episode 4 gold mafia aljazeera – YouTube   

Nana Akufo-Addo knows that to use the idiom “have no recollection” means to “remember nothing”. Nana Akufo-Addo’s reported response convinces me that Alistair Mathias was speaking the truth at the meeting with the undercover investigators from Al Jazeera who posed as Chinese businessmen. Firstly, and very importantly, Nana Akufo-Addo does not deny Alistair Mathias’ assertion that Nana Addo is his good friend. Nana Addo merely uses the idiom, “have no recollection” in relation to being his lawyer. Secondly, an astute and experienced lawyer like Nana Akufo-Addo knows the difference between “I never acted as a lawyer for Alistair Mathias or his company”, and “I have no recollection of acting as a lawyer for Alistair Mathias or his company’ which is tantamount to pleading amnesia.

In spite of the astute and experienced Nana Akufo-Addo’s response as reported by Al Jazeera without mentioning the name of the company, a less astute, inexperienced younger lawyer, and underling claiming to be counsel for President Akufo-Addo, Kow Essuman, tweeted that:

“The President has not been in private practice since 2000, neither has the President nor his law firm, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co, acted as a lawyer for this Alistair Mathias or Guldrest. The President does not know this Mathias or Guldrest. Ignore the spurious allegations.”

What was the necessity for an employee of the Jubilee House, the seat of Nana Akufo-Addo’s Government of cronies, family, and friends to contradict what the President, who is the principal actor in this drama, told Al Jazeera. Curiously, the tweet was not directed at Al Jazeera but to the Ghanaian public to divert attention from the implication of Alistair Mathias’ statement within the context of the Al Jazeera investigation into Southern Africa’s biggest gold and money laundering operations, otherwise known as Al Jazeera’s Gold Mafia investigation.

Jubilee House’s assigned Goebbel, Paul Adom-Otchere, at the Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana programme on Tuesday, 18 April 2023 also attempted to refute Alistair Mathias’ undisputed claim that the Ghanaian president was his lawyer during an editorial on his programme. Paul Adom-Otchere, a public officer Chairing the Ghana Airport Company Limited as an employee of Jubilee House naively uses the age of Alistair Mathias as proof that it is not true that Akufo-Addo was his lawyer as he would have been a teenager: “The last time Akufo-Addo was a lawyer for anybody was the year, 2000…”

Paul Adom-Otchere, without adducing any evidence parrots that: “… in 2001 Akufo-Addo became attorney general, from there foreign minister, from there opposition leader… He didn’t do law, he didn’t go to court, he never went to his law firm, Akufo-Addo and Prempeh, and the law firm didn’t represent him.” I do not know who told Paul Adom-Otchere that an opposition leader cannot practice law or that going to court is what makes a person a practicing lawyer.

Above all, Paul Adom-Otchere does not produce proof that Nana Akufo-Addo ceased to be a partner in his law firm, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co when he ceased to be the Minister for Foreign Affairs up to 7 January 2017 when he took the oath of office as President of Ghana.

Surely, Alistair Mathias was not also a teenager when Nana Addo became his good friend or how does Paul Adom-Otchere explain that undenied fact by the President to Ghanaians?    

The poorly trained Goebbel of the Jubilee House at Metro TV cowardly and inexcusably refuses to name the supreme court judge he claims was Alistair Mathias’ lawyer in 2014 in a criminal case brought by one Henry Osei against Alistair Mathias for suspected fraud.

Justice Clarence Thomas, the oldest Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court is making the news for suspected criminal conduct and there should be no different yardstick for Ghana as a constitutional democracy.

Paul Adom-Otchere naively forgets that by the disclosures he made he was letting the cat out of the bag about Nana Addo’s friendship with Alistair Mathias should it turn out that the Supreme Court judge is Nana Addo’s protégée at the Supreme Court, whom the president praised himself on 10 December 2021 as reported by 3news.com. The 3news.com report quoted Nana Addo as follows:

“I must have been doing something right in my other life. When I see today, the two of my protégés, Yonny Kulendi and Godfred Dame both members of Akufo Addo, Prempeh & Co are occupying two important and sensitive positions in our state, Justice of the Supreme Court and Attorney General. …I wish them well and I have every confidence that they will discharge their offices with credit.”

Or is Paul Adom-Octchere perusing another agenda against Supreme Court Justice Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi? With Paul Adom-Otchere’s hint I researched the allegation he raised against the judge without a name and I came upon two links that led me to the possible person on the Supreme Court Adom-Otchere was referring to.

The reader can read them on Alistair Jude Mathias is at large | News Ghana and http://myinfo.com.gh/2021/04/herald-responds-to-lawyer-adjei-dwomohs-frivolous-case-at-nmc/ . 

The second reportage names the judge specifically. Dennis Adjei-Dwomoh is currently a member of the National Investment Board (NIB) appointed by this Government.

But to act as a lawyer for any suspected criminal is not a criminal conduct on the part of the lawyer. Every suspect is entitled under the Constitution to a good defence. That is why hiding the name is pernicious.

The President stated on 10 December 2021 that Yonny Kulendi and Godfred Dame, both former members of Akufo Addo, Prempeh & Co, were his protégées.

Mr Godfred Dame was enrolled on the Roll of Lawyers in Ghana in 2003. This is inconsistent with the argument that: “The President has not been in private practice since 2000….” as contended by Mr. Essuman and Mr. Adom-Otchere.

How did Mr. Dame become the President’s protégée if he had nothing to do with Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co as a law partner? The public needs an explanation.

President Akufo-Addo could have introduced Alistair Mathias as a friend to one of his numerous protégées whom he groomed in Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co after listening to the legal problems of his friend.

The protégée need not to be still working at Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co. It is all a matter of confidence and trust as he exhibited to his two protégées by elevating them as the President by their appointments.

The layman would consider the referral by such an astute and experienced lawyer of his legal matters to his protegees as the senior lawyer holding himself out as a practicing lawyer and will naturally describe the more senior lawyer as his lawyer.

Normally, when things do not go on well with the manner the protegee handles the case, the friend returns to the astute and experienced one to complain.

Holding oneself out as a practicing lawyer and referring a good friend to another lawyer is as good as being in private practice as a lawyer. Alistair Mathias cannot, therefore, be faulted if he understood his relationship with Nana Addo as one of lawyer and client.

The 1 hour 12 minutes 36 seconds of the Episode 4 of the Al Jazeera documentary on the Gold Mafia in Southern Africa is very damning of the numerous African Presidents and their modus operandi.

One can, therefore, understand the disquiet amongst Nana Addo’s underlings in his not too elegant response to Al Jazeera’s request for his comments on what Alistair Mathias said about him.

But who in Ghana does not know that Nana Akufo-Addo has associated with suspected criminal gang members before and after he assumed office as President?

The younger generation might not have heard of the likes of Raymond Kwame Amankwah who was alleged to have attended the victory celebration of the 2020 election in Accra only to return to his base in Mozambique to die of COVID-19 said to have been contracted at the victory party in Ghana.

The fact that Nana Addo has been a friend to Ernesto Taricone and his Ghanaian family members is an open secret and explains why Alfred Woyome, the financial engineer, alone had his assets sold in satisfaction of the Supreme Court judgment in the Waterville case by this Government.

One of the lawyers who assisted Ernesto Taricone to register Waterville in the British Virgin Island is a known friend of Nana Addo and was suspected as being instrumental in the scandalous Agyapa Royalties Limited registered in the Island of Jersey.

Prof.  Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng’s IMCIM Galamsey Report of 2021 is also a trending topic. Now, we know that Alistair Mathias the alleged gold smuggling and money laundering financial architect is at least Nana Addo’s good friend, to mention but a few examples.

Mr Mathias could be the financial architect behind Agyapa and Gold-for-Oil.

And this is the Father or should I say, the Mother, of the nation who took the constitutional oath to ensure the nourishment of We the People of Ghana and to protect us from economic hardships and sufferings.

But he instead has led the nation into the insolvency and economic mess we are witnessing for the first time in our live time as a nation.

The Constitution demands that the Government be accountable and transparent to Ghanaians with allegations made against the President.

Patriots are enjoined by the Constitution not to allow the Government to deceive the public as I have done in this discourse. Ghana First!

Martin A. B. K. Amidu
24 April 2023        

Together with two others Kelvin Prince Boakye has been accused of robbing a gold trading firm, Waahid Gold Company Limited, of five kilogrammes of gold worth GH¢2.7 million in Accra.

When the case was called on Thursday, February 23, the lawyer for Mr Boakye told the court that his client, the first accused was absent because he was in lawful custody at Konongo in the Ashanti Region for galamsey related offence.

Counsel for the second accused, Joy Kwame Genu told the court that he was unwell and had obtained an excuse duty from Ridge Hospital, hence his absence.

The third accused, George Essandoh Akron was, however, present in court and pleaded not guilty to charges of robbery and abetment of crime.

The prosecuting officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Maxwell Oppong, noted that the charge sheet had been amended following the arrest of another accused person allegedly involved in the robbery, Felix Tei who lives at Oyarifa.

The presiding judge of the Accra Circuit court 10, Evelyn Asamoah adjourned the case to March 2 for the accused to reappear in court.

Per the facts of the case, the first accused person, Kelvin Prince Boakye was picked by the Police on November 18, 2022, following an investigation into a gold scam and robbery incident in Accra on November 8, 2022.

Further investigations led to the arrest of accused persons Joy Kwame Genu and George Essandoh Akron on November 29, 2022, and December 2, 2022, respectively.

Items retrieved from the suspects included an unlicensed Bruni pistol with three live 9mm ammunition, two bulletproof vests, one ballistic helmet, two stunt guns and one can of pepper spray.

Background

On Saturday, November 5, 2022, the complainant (name withheld) and others who are witnesses in the case went to buy 5kg of gold from the accomplices of the accused at the cost of GH¢2.7million.

According to the prosecution officer, both parties took the gold to the SSL Refinery at the Kotoka International Airport Terminal 2 for testing, after which its authenticity was verified.

ASP Maxwell Oppong further noted that the accused persons allegedly lured the complainant to escort them to Accra Mall with the said amount of money for payment.

He added that while the complainant was still at the Accra Mall, she called the Managing Director of the company, Mohammed Ko Chan Tha, and Emmanuel Amuzu, one of the workers informing them about the payment.

While the payment was being made the alleged National Security perso, Kelvin Boakye allegedly attacked the refinery with his accomplices.

Kelvin Prince Boakye, Felix Tei and another person currently on the run beat up the director of the company.

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Boakye and his men allegedly robbed Mr Amuzu and the Managing Director of the 5kg of gold.

“After the act, the accused person and his accomplices went into hiding. On November 18, 2022, the accused was arrested from his hideout at Awoshie,” the prosecutor told the court.

The court was informed that a Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) installed in the refinery captured the accused and his other accomplices in the act.

The bench warrant was issued after Yahaya had failed to appear before the court to which he had been summoned.

The court presided over by Mr Emmanuel Essandoh, issued the bench warrant yesterday, following an application by the prosecuting officer, Inspector Eric Pobee, who noted that the defendant was absent from defending the charge against him.

Facts

Presenting the facts of the case to the court, Mr Pobee said two investors from the United Kingdom and their business partners were introduced to Alhaji Yahaya in 2020 as a businessman who traded in gold.

The investors indicated their interest in buying gold bars from Yahaya and subsequently travelled to Ghana, on Yahaya’s request, who also demanded they meet him in person for negotiation in respect of the transaction.

In February 2020, Yahaya and an accomplice, Samuel Asante, now at large, met the investors and showed them 20 kilogrammes of gold bars.

The foreign investors expressed their readiness to buy five kilogrammes of the gold, for which Yahaya and his accomplice demanded and collected $69,000 as initial part payment of the value of the gold.

After receipt of the money, they promised to export the gold to the foreign investors, who would take delivery of it in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. But they ended up exporting only one kilogramme of gold to the investors.

Yahaya explained that he could not export the appropriate quantity of gold because of delays in the documentation process by Customs officials at the Kotoka International Airport and promised to export the remaining quantity to the investors on December 3, 2020, but failed to do so.

He later requested for $130,000, being the outstanding payment for the four kilogrammes of gold and also took $70,000 from the investors to guarantee the export of the rest of the gold.

When he failed to honour his word, he indicated that he had been unable to export the gold, as there were no airlines to export the gold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yahaya also claimed the waybill to facilitate the export of the gold could not be accepted by the Precious Minerals Marketing Company, as the quantity was too small, so he would add six additional kilogrammes of gold to bring the total to 10 kilogrammes for easy export.

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On July 17, 2020, Yahaya told the investors he had been arrested by INTERPOL and officials of some security agencies and the gold bars had been confiscated.

To facilitate the release of the gold, he demanded various amounts of money and later indicated that the gold bars had been released to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), which was demanding $300,000 before releasing the precious mineral to him.

The investors sent the $300,000 to Yahaya, bringing the total amount sent to him to $1,075,000, but he failed to fulfil his promise, leading to his arrest.

He was then charged with conspiracy to defraud by false pretences, defrauding by false pretences and selling and buying minerals without licence and bailed.

He was expected to appear before the court but failed to do so.

The maverick MP dragged Anas to the General Legal Council (GLC) accusing him of professional misconduct as a lawyer.

In a complaint letter to the GLC, the legislator stated that he has evidence that the lawyer cum journalist connived with a State Attorney to have the case against some accused persons dismissed.

WATCH: VIDEO: Journalist who took money to destroy Anas exposed

“…Interestingly Anas revealed to the Chief State Attorney that the suspects had bought him with $100,000, paid $75,000 to Frank Adu Poku, the then CID Director-General and also paid $5,000 into the account of the Chief State Attorney in order to taint the evidence and make the case foolish.

“Respectfully, a search conducted at the Registry of the Criminal Division, High Court, Accra revealed that the case was indeed dismissed for want of prosecution. Thus, by the foregoing reasons, it is my opinion that such professional misconduct should not be countenanced at the Bar and therefore urge your revered Council to conduct thorough investigations into the behaviour of Anas Aremeyaw Anas,” portions of the complaint signed by Hon. Ken Agyapong read.

But Lawyer Kissi Agyabeng says the actions taken by the Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong against his client shows that he’s ill-informed.

According to him, claims by Mr. Kennedy Agyapong that Anas connived with a state prosecutor to throw out a gold scam case is untrue and further exposes the Member of Parliament’s ignorance of the law and the real issues.

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“He has no idea what he’s doing, he’s being ill-advised and he’s passionate for nothing. If he says he’s dragged my client to the General Legal Council then he should be ready to respond to how he managed to fake court process. The basis upon which he said the case was dismissed is a fake court process that he faked and put on social media. He then accused someone of moral turpitude, I’ve all that in my possession.”

Last month, undercover journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas sued Ken Agyapong for defamation, demanding GH¢25 million in damages from the tough-talking MP who recently launched a fierce campaign against Anas’ work and his person.

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Mr. Ken Agyapong has on the other hand also petitioned the General Legal Council to probe Anas Aremeyaw Anas, and possibly sanction him for allegedly engaging in what he describes as “professional misconduct.”

Mr. Agyapong in a 45-minute video he captioned: “Who watches the watchman” accused Anas of collecting money from some alleged criminals to shield them from facing the law in a gold scam case worth millions of dollars in 2009.