Some Chinese and Ghanaians Convicted for illegal gold dealing and money laundering
Two Chinese and two Ghanaian citizens have been convicted for illegal gold dealing and money laundering.
The Tarkwa Circuit court, on Friday, November 5, 2021, convicted them and fined them 120,000 penalty units, an equivalent of GHC 1,440,000 each, or in default, serve 15 years each in prison.
The two Ghanaians were subsequently fined 100,120,000 penalty units, or 1,200,000 and 1,444,000 Ghanaian cedis, respectively, or face prison sentences of 10 and 15 years, respectively.
The Deputy Lands and Natural Resource minister in charge of mining, George Mireku Duker said, “government is committed to sanitizing the mining sector including small scale mining which has been facing an infiltrating of foreigners in recent times and escalating of smuggling of gold produced to neighbouring countries. The conviction by the court and the severity of the penalties imposed are clear evidence of government’s resolve to find the illegalities in the mining sector”.
He further explained that, “government in 2019 decided that the sanctions applicable to illegal mining were not severe enough to provide the warranted deterrence and hence passed ACT 995 to amend and make the sanction stiffer. Currently, punishments for those who are found engaging in illegal mining are much stiffer under ACT 995. They range between 10,000 to 250,000 penalty units or 15 to 25 years in prison”.
“I hope therefore, strongly urge those involved to stop and desist from it,” he said.
