Bank of Ghana Warns Against illegal Foreign Investment Fraud

Governor Bank of Ghana Johnson Asiamah

Source: Africa Publicity

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has warned the general public in Ghana against illegal foreign investment scams.

According to BoG, there were unlicensed individuals and institutions engaging in foreign investment fraud.

BoG said the fraudulent individuals and institutions are enticing unsuspecting victims with promises of high returns—activities that are in direct violation of Ghana’s financial laws.

In a notice titled “Scam Alert – Illegal Foreign Investors in Ghana,” BoG Bank disclosed that these schemes often involve unauthorized deposit-taking activities, which are strictly prohibited for any entity not licensed under Section 4 of the Banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930).

According to the Bank, “it has not licensed any individuals or entities operating such foreign investment schemes”.

It has therefore cautioned that anyone participating in such ventures is committing an offense.

Penalties

According to the Central Bank, offenders could face administrative penalties ranging from 500 to 100,000 penalty units, as stipulated under Section 53(3) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044).

To safeguard themselves, the public is advised to:

Verify the licensing status of any individual or entity before depositing funds;

Transact only with financial institutions licensed by the Bank of Ghana;

Report any suspicious activities to the Bank’s Financial Stability Department or relevant law enforcement agencies for further investigation and possible prosecution.

BoG further warned media houses against promoting these illegal operations, appealing to radio, television, and online platforms to “verify the legitimacy of financial advertisers before airing their content.”