Gold Mafia: Ghana president doesn’t know Alistair Mathias – Says his lawyer
The legal counsel of Nana Akufo-Addo, the President of Ghana has responded to the remarks made by Alistair Mathias, one of the major subjects in the Al Jazeera undercover investigation, Gold Mafia.
In a tweet Sunday March 16, 2023, Kow Essuman said the President of Ghana has not been in private practice since the year 2000, and neither has the President nor his law firm, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co, acted as lawyer for this Alistair Mathias or Guldrest.
“The President does not know this Mathias or Guldrest. Ignore the spurious allegations,” he tweeted.
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 lawyer for this Alistair Mathias or Guldrest. The President does not know this Mathias or Guldrest. Ignore the spurious allegations.
— Kow Essuman (@kaessuman) April 16, 2023
Mathias, described by the undercover reporters in the Al Jazeera investigation as a Financial Architect, and identified in some news reports in Ghana as a Canadian businessman made emphatic statements about his dealings in Ghana. He said he used to be the biggest in Ghana at one point, telling the reporters that he used to do about $40 million to $60 million worth of gold a month from Ghana.
“Ghana’s president is a good friend of mine. In fact, he was my lawyer,” Mathias was recorded saying.
In response to enquiries, President Akufo-Addo has told Al Jazeera that he had no recollection of acting as a lawyer for Mathias or his company.
In the four-episodes video that has shocked the world, Mathias and other main subjects involved in what they clearly explained, as captured on hidden cameras to be money laundering using gold exports as cover said there is no president in Africa that they can’t get access to.
“There is no president that either of us (referring to himself and Ewan Macmillan), one of the main subjects of the investigation), can’t get to on this continent,” he said.
This reaction is so far, what can be said to be an official reaction from Ghana on the investigation that has revealed the depths of official collusion in the debilitating phenomenon of illicit financial flows out of Africa and how the continent’s natural resources are being looted.
The Al Jazeera investigation found a link between Mathias and a Ghana registered gold exporting company, Guldrest Resources. Local news reports have reported court cases involving disputes of over $4 million in Ghana and another $9.2 million both in Ghana and Dubai between Mathias and his Ghanaian counterparts. The reports say the courts cleared Mathias of all the allegations and dismissed the cases.
By Emmanuel K Dogbevi