Statesman and business executive, Sir Sam E. Jonah, says he has neither endorsed cryptocurrency and bitcoin trading nor urged the public to engage in the activity.

The Executive Chairman of Jonah Capital said it was also false that he was a patron of such activities and could testify to their goodness in wealth creation.

The Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) told the Daily Graphic on Tuesday that reports on social media that he had endorsed the acts and recommended them to the general public were false, fraudulent and an attempt by criminals to dupe the unsuspecting public.

Reacting to publications linking him to cryptocurrency and bitcoin trading, Sir Jonah said the stories were “a complete scam, reprehensive, unconscionable and aimed at deceiving people into falling prey to duping antics.”

“It is unconscionable that anyone will want to dupe Ghanaians like this. I do not deal in cryptocurrency and I do not ask people to engage in it.”

“It is such a shame and reprehensible that criminals somewhere are trying to prey on the innocence of Ghanaians and swindle innocent people using my name,” he added.

He has, therefore, asked the public to disregard the claims, which have been widely circulated on social media platforms, especially on Facebook/Meta.

Viral publications

The President of AngloGold Ashanti was reacting to a viral publication on social media, particularly on Facebook, that claimed that Sir Jonah had endorsed cryptocurrency and Bitcoin trading during an interview with television stations in the country.

The publications cloned names, logos, and websites of some Ghanaian media and embedded them in a story that carried pictures of Sir Jonah.

The stories were then sponsored and shared on Facebook throughout last month.

Sir Jonah said he had since been inundated with calls from all over the world by people who were either seeking clarity on the issue, urging him to refute the allegations, or wondering why he had engaged in such an act.

He said that attention was ignoble and wondered why Facebook/Meta would allow its platforms to be used to spread obvious falsehood with a clear intent to swindle the unsuspecting public.

Legal threat

Following the publication and their continued existence on Facebook/Meta, Sir Jonah said he had asked his lawyers to explore the possibility of bringing legal actions against the social media giant for allowing its platform to be used to propagate such falsehood and tarnish his image.

He said the global attention, that the reports brought on him, was evidence of the apprehension that the publications had caused throughout the world.

Andrew Forrest

Sir Jonah’s threat of legal action comes at a time when the Australian government has filed a lawsuit against Facebook/Meta over similar concerns.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleged in the suit filed this week that the company had engaged in false, misleading, or deceptive conduct by publishing fake adverts about an Australian recommending cryptocurrency to citizens.

The victim, Andrew Forrest, had earlier filed a suit against Facebook/Meta over the same concerns. Mr Forrest, a billionaire, said that the company had failed to act on the issue, resulting in innocent Australians falling prey under his name.

“I intend to sue Facebook/meta too for exactly the same thing. Just as Mr. Forrest said, the company is refusing to act, although it has the power to block the adverts, and that allows people to fall victims. That is exactly what I am going through.”

“I have handed it over to my lawyers that they have to bring an action against Facebook because it should not be that Facebook allows criminals to ride on your reputation to dupe others and perpetrate scam,” he added.