IN A MAJOR breakthrough against illegal gold trading, three Indian nationals have been arrested and remanded into custody by the Achimota Circuit Court following a targeted operation by the GoldBod Security Taskforce.
The suspects – Goutam Katriya (35), Miraj Sarvaych (22), and Manash Damani (42) – were apprehended at a private residence near Atinga Junction in Kumasi, which had been converted into an illicit gold trading hub.
The trio are reportedly gold dealers for Unique MM, a company allegedly fronted by a Ghanaian, Musah Salifu but believed to be secretly owned by Katriya.
According to National Security officials, the arrest followed a tip-off from a patriotic whistleblower who revealed that the suspects were purchasing gold at “black market” rates with the intention of smuggling it out of the country.
During the raid, authorities seized a haul that included GH¢1.9 million, 4,500 Indian rupees, 4.363 kilograms of gold, two counting machines, a CCTV recorder, and an Indian passport.
At a press briefing in Accra, Chief Superintendent Osman Alhassan, Director of Investigations at National Security, revealed that none of the suspects possessed valid licenses to trade in gold in Ghana.
They were also unable to produce residence or work permits, or evidence of tax compliance despite operating in the country for over a decade.
Preliminary findings suggest that the suspects were smuggling gold through unapproved routes to India, undermining the country’s economy and flouting multiple regulations under the Ghana Gold Board Act.
“This arrest is only the beginning of GoldBod’s ruthless war against illegal gold trading and gold smuggling,” Alhassan stated. “We are intensifying our intelligence-gathering and will soon take action against others involved in similar activities.”
The three suspects have been remanded into National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) custody and are scheduled to reappear in court on May 12, 2025.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has reaffirmed its directive that all foreign nationals in the gold trade sector must exit the market by April 30, 2025.
Source: Nationaltymes.com
