…As three Ghanaian firms go evasive with Turkish’s US$6.8 million
The paper, has obtained details of the petition submitted to the Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) by a partner of Tayvest FZCO, the Turkish company which paid more than US$17 million to a Ghanaian company for the purchase of gold, but now claims it has been defrauded, as the quantity of gold supplied is not commensurate with the funds transferred.
The petitioners allege that Papa Yaw Owusu-Ankomah, son of former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice under the Kufuor administration, Papa Owusu-Ankomah, together with two associates, used JG Resources Limited to obtain US$17 million to facilitate a gold transaction but failed to deliver the full quantity agreed upon.
The Turkish company, in its petition submitted on its behalf by Tony Lithur of LithurBrew Law Firm in Accra, stated that a balance of US$6,8 million remains unpaid. It was evident that the Turkish firm and its sister company, Unigold Trading LLC, based in Dubai, did not conduct due diligence on JG Resources Limited before advancing it US$17 million.
JG Resources had no gold concession and was neither an aggregator nor licensed by the Ghana Gold Board. It therefore relied on three other Ghanaian companies, RMB Mining Company Limited, Sesi Edem Limited and Goldline Mining Limited, advancing funds to them to supply gold bars weighing 1,200 kilogrammes for onward delivery to the Turkish firm.
However, only Sesi Edem Limited is said to have substantially fulfilled its obligations, with about 17 kilogrammes remaining valued at GH₵12 million, which it hopes to complete later this year. Sesi Edem, per the agreement, was obligated to honour the deal within 12 months. The other companies have allegedly failed to meet their obligations since last year, prompting the Turkish firm to hold the Ghanaian directors of all four companies accountable for the alleged fraud.
But Sesi-Edem Company Limited has strongly denied any wrongdoing and has initiated legal action to clear its name. It has sued Tayvest FZCO, JG Resources Limited, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), and Access Bank Ghana Limited.
The company, owned and led by Gabriel Tanko Kwamigah-Atokple, the Volta Regional representative on the Council of State, has repeatedly reiterated its innocence in several documents. As of last Thursday, it had applied for committal for contempt against JG Resources and its three directors, Papa Yaw Owusu-Ankomah, Maame Akosua Kuranchie, and Kwaku Appiah Yeboah, as one of the means to distance itself from the fraud claims by the Turkish firm.
JG Resources and its three directors are scheduled to appear before Justice Doris Awuah-Dabanka-Bekoe on 5 March 2026 to face allegations of forgery of documents, stamps, and signatures allegedly used to obtain substantial sums while posing as Sesi Edem Limited, a registered gold dealership.
The contempt proceedings originated from Suit No. GJ-CM/OCC/0181/2026, in which Sesi-Edem alleges that JG Resources unlawfully used its corporate name and the signature of its Managing Director without authorization in relation to a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Tayvest FZCO for the purchase of gold dore bars.
Sesi-Edem, in court documents, said it discovered the forged agreement after being alerted by journalist Kay Cudjoe. It subsequently initiated legal proceedings against JG Resources and its three directors, including Mr Owusu-Ankomah, a lawyer and son of Ghana’s immediate past High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
It remains unclear whether RMB Mining Company Limited and Goldline Mining Limited have taken similar steps to defend themselves.
Company records obtained by The Herald from the Registrar General show that JG Resources Ltd was incorporated on 7 April 2025 and, within two months, had received the full US$17. million from Tayvest FZCO. Investigators consider the timeline suspicious.
Although the petition bears the name Unigold Trading LLC, information available to The Herald indicated that the US$17 million was paid to JG Resources in the name of Tayvest FZCO. Both companies own the gold.
The petition, dated 15 December 2025 and signed by Mr Lithur, calls on the CID to conduct a full investigation and take the necessary steps, including prosecutions, to ensure the recovery of the funds.
According to the petition, on 25 May 2025, Tayvest FZCO entered into an agreement with RMB Mining Company Limited (identified as the “Seller”) and JG Resources Limited (the “Facilitator”) for the purchase of gold dore bars.
A trial shipment of 50 kilogrammes was agreed upon signing the contract. Under the agreement, the Facilitator was to receive payments and use them to procure gold on behalf of the Turkish buyer.
Following the trial shipment, Tayvest FZCO transferred US$14,315,000 to JG Resources in multiple transactions. Of that amount, US$7,800,000 allegedly related to gold that was not supplied. Upon demand, only US$1,000,000 was refunded, leaving US$6,800,000 outstanding.
The Herald’s information is that the Turkish firm had reported transferring approximately US$17 million to JG Resource Limited in connection with the gold transaction.
The petition further alleges that part of the funds paid into JG Resources’ account was transferred into the personal account of Kwaku Appiah Yeboah, described as an underlying shareholder, without lawful justification and contrary to the purpose for which the funds were provided.
Despite repeated demands, the petition states that neither the outstanding gold nor the remaining funds have been delivered.
In a separate petition dated 4 December 2025 to the CID Director-General, COP Lydia Yaako Donkor, lawyers for Sesi-Edem requested investigations into suspected offences of defrauding by false pretences and forgery under Sections 131 and 159 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
The petition, signed by Mawunyo Kofi Adjaho of Knightscild Chambers, states that Sesi-Edem is a fully licensed and regulated gold trading company operating under licences issued by PMMC, the Government of Ghana, and Goldbod, and that letters from the Bank of Ghana confirm its participation in the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.
According to Sesi-Edem, on 30 November 2025, a purported Sale and Purchase Agreement dated 5 June 2025 was produced, naming Tayvest FZCO as the buyer and falsely purporting to make Sesi-Edem the seller. The company maintains that the Managing Director’s signature on that document was forged and that no funds were ever received from the Turkish firm in respect of that transaction.
It insists that its only agreement with JG Resources, also dated 5 June 2025, names Unigold Trading LLC and JG Resources Ltd as joint buyers.
Under that agreement, Phase One covers delivery of 50 kilogrammes between 5 June 2025 and 5 June 2026 at the prevailing LBMA spot price less six per cent. Phase Two, contingent on the successful completion of Phase One, envisages an estimated 1,200 kilogrammes. Phase Two has not commenced.
Sesi-Edem reports receiving GH ₵57,759,594.68 in three instalments in June and July 2025 and delivering 32.8 kilogrammes of gold valued at GH ₵45,015,918.90 between 12 June and 6 August 2025.
It maintains that the outstanding balance remains within the contractual delivery window, which runs until 5 June 2026, and that no notice of breach has been issued.
Notwithstanding this, JG Resources petitioned EOCO on 4 November 2025, alleging partial delivery and a refusal to complete performance or to refund the balance. EOCO subsequently froze Sesi-Edem’s account. In an affidavit filed in court, however, EOCO acknowledged that the contractual delivery period had not expired as of the filing of the petition.
On 19 December 2025, the High Court granted interim orders for the preservation of funds and disclosure by JG Resources Ltd.
Separately from the CID investigation into the US$17 million transaction, Sesi-Edem has filed a Human Rights application and an additional application seeking to lift the freeze on its account, in an effort to restrain EOCO’s continued involvement. It also hopes to access its bank account for money to buy the outstanding gold and deliver.
