Lawyer Describes Gold Mafia’s Alleged Alliance With Akufo-Addo “Spurious”

The legal Counsel for the President of Ghana, Kow Essuman, says Alistair Matthias’ allegation of being an ally of President Akufo-Addo is false.

According to him, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo does not know Matthias.

The final episode of Aljazeera’s documentary on gold smuggling and money laundering titled “The Gold Mafia” featured Alistair Mathias, a gold trader and a financial architect- who builds a money laundering scheme for African leaders according to Aljazeera- bragging of his alliance with African leaders including President Akufo-Addo.

Matthias said this when Ewan Alexander Macmillan- a gold trader and smuggler known as Mr Gold- introduced him to  journalists disguised as gangsters who needed to launder money.

“There is no President or head of state either of us can’t get to him on this continent. Next door Swaziland the King is a close friend of mine. Zambia’s President is a close friend of my friend. DRC Congo the President has invited me several times that I should come and build a refinery. Ghana’s President is a good friend of mine. In fact, he was my lawyer. Cyril Ramaphosa here, I know him. I know his kids,” Matthias bragged.

Debunking the allegations, Essuman stated that President Akufo-Addo has not been practising as a lawyer since the year 2,000.

He also noted that the President’s Law firm hasn’t provided services to Matthias as claimed.

“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,” he tweeted on Sunday in reaction.

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

In the first episode of the documentary, Matthias alleged that he smuggles $40 million worth of gold out of Ghana each month. That is yet to receive a response from the Ghanaian authorities.

The documentary titled “The Gold Mafia” by the Investigative Unit of the media outlet depicted how gold is smuggled every month from Zimbabwe, Africa’s sixth-largest gold producer, to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), aiding money laundering.