RAFMOH Gold, Nandoli Rafeeq deny gold smuggling allegations

Lawyers for RAFMOH Gold and Muhammed Nandoli Rafeeq have rejected allegations by the Ghana Gold Board linking their clients to illegal gold smuggling activities.

The rebuttal follows a joint operation launched by the Police and the Gold Board on Tuesday, September 16, to track down four individuals suspected of involvement in illicit gold trade.

The suspects named include Muhammed Nandoli Rafeeq, Abdul Karim, Sadique Abubakar, Muhammed Afsal, and Puth Puthalan.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board, Sammy Gyamfi, the suspects are part of a seven-member syndicate engaged in gold smuggling. He disclosed that a bounty of GHC1 million has been placed on each of the four who remain at large.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, September 17, Gawuga@Law, legal counsel for Nandoli Rafeeq and RAFMOH Gold, dismissed the claims as “unfounded,” insisting that their clients have no ties to any smuggling syndicate.

“Any suggestion that RAFMOH Gold and Mr. Nandoli are part of a gold smuggling syndicate is unfounded. To avoid jeopardising the ongoing investigations, no further public comments will be made. Instead, they will pursue the appropriate legal avenues, while extending full cooperation to the Gold Board and law enforcement authorities,” the statement said.

The lawyers further explained that following the passage of the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 (Act 1140), which introduced a new licensing regime, RAFMOH Gold and Mr. Nandoli became ineligible to apply for licences due to nationality restrictions under section 28 of the Act.

“Consequently, the Company ceased buying and exporting gold from Ghana,” the statement said.

They stressed that their clients:

Have not purchased gold from NK Bernark Enterprise at Tarkwa or elsewhere in the past two months as alleged.
Are not connected to the 9.2 kilograms of gold recently seized by the Gold Board.
Have not authorised any individual or group to buy gold on their behalf since ceasing operations in Ghana.

The lawyers expressed confidence that their clients’ names would be cleared after the investigations are concluded.

Source: citinewsroom