Ayariga Petitions Parliament Over Government’s Failure To Settle Gold Coast Customers

Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, has petitioned Parliament to probe the government’s failure to settle customers of the defunct Gold Coast Fund Management.

The government is yet to release money to 61,000 customers of the Gold Coast Fund Management, which operated under the registered name Black Shield Capital Limited before the regulator revoked its license in 2018.

The MP presented the petition on behalf of Charles Nyame, the convener of the aggrieved customers of the collapsed Gold Coast Fund Management Company, Bernard Agyekum, Nathaniel Mensah, David Opoku, and Rosemond Mensah Grunitzky.

Mr Ayariga, in the petition, wants Parliament to “investigate and establish what has accounted for the Government’s failure to pay the customers of the defunct Gold Coast Fund Management” and as well compel “the Government to pay the customers of the defunct Gold Coast Fund Management their investments in the fund since Parliament approved the budget”.

According to the group, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not paid its members whose funds were locked up after picketing repeatedly at the premises of the SEC in May 2023.

The group convener said all efforts to get their money, estimated at GH¢5 billion from the defunct Gold Coast Fund Management Company, have proved futile.

Later on, the Regulator (SEC) budgeted an amount of GH¢8 billion for the total payment of the claims of customers of all the 47 defunct fund management companies.

Parliament approved funds for the Financial Sector Clean-up Exercise, and the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning publicly reported that he had completed the exercise at a cost of GH¢ 25billion.

The government’s accounting showed that this sum included the GH¢8.6 billion meant to pay claims of investors in the 47 defunct fund management companies, including Gold Coast Fund Management.

In his petition, Mr. Ayariga noted that individual members of the petitioners’ association whose investment exceeded GH¢50,000 have not been paid the remainder of their money “because the government paid only GH¢50,000.00 to everyone owed in 2020.

“Many members of the petitioners’ association had gone on pension and invested all their retirement benefits in the fund and have consequently been rendered destitute, and many have died not being able to afford critically needed medical care,” he asserted.

The aggrieved customers of Gold Coast Fund Management are to stage a protest at the Ministry of Finance again on November 28, 2023, over delayed funds from the defunct company.