Gold trading and investment firm, MenzGold Ghana Limited, says it has forwarded to its lawyers, a letter by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordering it to shut down its operations over alleged illegalities.

Head of Communications of Menzgold Nana Offei told Nana Akua Mensah-Aborampah that though the company has received a copy of the letter dated September 7, the firm was still operating.

SEC in a letter addressed to the Chief Executive of Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah, dated ordered gold firm to shut down its operations in the country immediately.

It also asked the company which has been on the warpath with the Bank of Ghana, not to take new contracts (investments) and also halt the broadcast and publishing of all its adverts forthwith.

According to SEC, evaluation of Menzgold’s documentations show the company does not have the licences to trade in gold, and that, its operations are in breach of Act 929 “as well as a threat to unsuspecting and uninformed investors”.

It warned it would be compelled to take “measures under the law” to enforce the directive if Menzgold fails to comply.

“This directive does not preclude you from continuing your other businesses of assaying, purchasing gold from small scale miners and the export of gold,” the directive signed by Paul Ababio, Deputy Director General of SEC explained.

Business as usual

Despite the directive, our correspondent reported from the Menzgold office at East Legon in Accra Wednesday morning that a number of customers whose returns are due have thronged the office for their monies.

“Customers are here going about their usual transactions but I understand the numbers here keep increasing by the day. Workers are tight-lipped on the happenings. Some customers say upon several reports in the media on Menzgold they decided to come and take their monies,” Akua Mensah-Aborampah reported.

A customer whose dividend was due for payment on September 7 said he was informed by Menzgold of a new directive by BoG to pay the dividend through banks for which they took his account number but has not yet received the money.

“Since 7th September, I have still not received my dividend payout so I actually came here because of that,” he told our reporter.

Another customer who said she invested GHC50,000 in July this year, is grieving she has not been able to receive her dividend which matured August 27.

According to her, when she came on the due date, she was informed that they no longer pay cash to customers hence took her bank details to transfer the dividend but has since not been paid.

She claimed it has since been one story after the other, stating she always goes to the office of Menzgold to find long winding queues, saying “this morning they made me fill a form and asked me to go and that they will pay the dividend by 4:00 pm. I’m tired of this”.