A Deputy Governor of the BoG, Dr. Johnson Asiamah gave the warning in Accra yesterday when the top echelon of the bank faced Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in Accra.

“We haven’t licensed them (Menzgold) for that purpose (of collecting savings) hence, if you go ahead to do business with them, it is at your own risk,” Dr. Asiamah stated.

He was responding to a question as to why the bank was failing to close down the firm for taking deposits in the wake of yet to be resolved financial scandals that have hit some savings and loans companies in the country.

The BoG, he said, was unable to close down the firm down because it was licensed by the Minerals Commission and that the bank has no evidence that Menzgold was receiving deposits.

“The minerals commission gave them the license to purchase gold and we cannot just go and close them down. There has to be evidence that they are accepting deposits thereby flouting our regulations,” Dr. Asiamah explained.

According to him, the BoG was taking steps to ascertain the rumours that the firm was taking deposits and would follow with the needed action.

To ensure that the unsuspecting public does not fall prey to the illegality, if it is true, Dr. Asiamah said the bank has issued an earlier disclaimer notifying the public that “these people (Menzgold) are not accepting deposits. If they ask you to give them money, don’t give it to them.”

The Deputy Governor said the bank was publishing in the dailies what he called “the clean list” of micro-finance institutions that are complying with the bank’s regulatory measures and expected the public to do business with only firms that have a clean bill of endorsement from the central bank.

He said there was the need to educate the public on how to invest their monies to avoid being defrauded and asked Parliament to join in that crusade.

“We need to educate our people [because] we are just too ready to give money to anybody. Anyone that promises us good return, we are quick to give our money to them,” he decried.

On the defunct firms that ‘duped’ hundreds of people of their monies, Dr. Asiamah said they were going through a liquidation processes being undertaken by the Registrar-General.

BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI