Court remands two businessmen over alleged GH¢49.6 million gold deal fraud
The accused, Kenneth Torbizo, 49, and Ernest Kofi Nyatorgbe, 37, were remanded into police custody after pleading not guilty to conspiracy to defraud.
An Accra Circuit Court has denied bail to two businessmen accused of taking nearly GH¢50 million in a gold transaction that prosecutors say never materialised.
The accused, Kenneth Torbizo, 49, and Ernest Kofi Nyatorgbe, 37, were remanded into police custody after pleading not guilty to conspiracy to defraud.
According to the prosecution, the case centres on an alleged agreement to supply 32 kilogrammes of gold to Kofi Asaah Attakurah, Chief Financial Officer of Max Palasco Company, a firm said to be licensed to buy gold in Ghana.
Police told the court that Torbizo and Nyatorgbe, who operate under the name Torbiken Enterprise, approached the complainant through the company’s chief executive in January 2026 with an offer to sell the gold.
The prosecution said the complainant, acting on that representation, paid GH¢49,595,816.00 to the two men with the expectation that the gold would be delivered.
But the gold, according to the state, was never supplied.
Chief Inspector Jonas Lawer told the court that repeated efforts by the complainant to either secure delivery or recover the money failed, leading to a formal complaint to the police and the subsequent arrest of the two accused.
They have since been charged and put before the court.
The prosecution also indicated that, because of the scale of the amount involved, the docket would be forwarded to the Attorney-General for advice.
