The Police and the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) have announced a GHS1 million cash reward to persons who will aid in the arrest of four individuals suspected of smuggling gold.

The wanted individuals include Abdul Karim, Sadique Abubakar, Muhammed Afsal Puth Puthalan, and Muhammed Nandoli Rafeeq.

Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, September 16, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board disclosed that these suspects add up to seven individuals who are involved in illegal gold smuggling activities.

According to him, three of the seven suspects; Mr. Nkroma, Razak, and Arim Yao are currently in the custody of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) following their arrests. However, the four continue to remain at large.

“We have an arrest warrant for all of them; they are wanted by the police and the GoldBod. If you have any information about them, you can report to the nearest police station or the GoldBod head office. We have a bounty of GHC1 million on each of them,” he said.

Revealing how their operations were uncovered, Mr. Sammy Gyamfi indicated that the group, which includes foreign partners, was being aided by licensed GOLDBOD traders to smuggle gold out of the country. He added that his outfit monitored the group for weeks after receiving a tip off.

According to GoldBod’s CEO, a vehicle transporting gold from Tarkwa was intercepted at Winneba Junction on Wednesday, August 27, following intelligence received on Tuesday, August 26. The vehicle was being operated by a Guinean courier.

In response, the Guinean courier, Abdul Razak was arrested after authorities retrieved three packs of gold weighing a net 8.5 kilogrammes with a purity of 92.5 per cent. He noted that at the time, the seized gold was worth more than GH¢10.2 million.

Sammy Gyamfi noted that Razak ventured into the illegal business through his cousin Abdul Karim and receives GH¢500 per trip. He revealed that in recent months, Razak had made about four trips to Tarkwa. As indicated by Sammy Gyamfi, the seized goldwas supplied by NK Benak Enterprise, owned by Bernard Nkroma, a licensed GoldBod trader.

Sammy Gyamfi named the mastermind and sponsor of this whole gold smuggling syndicate a the shareholder of the company by name Rafik Mohammed Nandoli (Ramfoh) also known as Salam. He stated that between June and August 2025 Rafmoh, though not licensed by GoldBod, had bought no less than 100 kilogrammes of gold at more than GH¢120 million.

“The shareholder of the company by name Rafik Mohammed Nandoli, Rafmoh for short, who is also called Salam, is the mastermind and sponsor of this whole gold smuggling syndicate we’ve been tracking for a couple of months now,” Mr Gyamfi said.

As efforts to combating gold smuggling, the GoldBod have offered a special temporary bonus scheme to miners operating under valid mining license.

The licensed miners will enjoy an additional GH¢832 per pound of gold sold through the Ghana Gold Board. This information was contained in a statement issued by the GoldBod on Wednesday, August 27.

“This novelty is in response to legitimate complaints from licensed miners about the significant reduction in the local price of gold in the last few months due to the continuous appreciation of the Ghana cedi.

“The special bonus will ensure that licensed miners who have contributed immensely to the country’s increased gold output and foreign exchange earnings do not indirectly suffer as a result of the significant appreciation of the Ghana cedi that they have helped the country achieve,” the statement read.

According to GoldBod, the recent development has been made possible as a result of the continuous appreciation of the Ghana cedi.

On July 7, a task force was inaugurated with a special mandate with specific powers as police officers to wage war against smuggling and all forms of illegal gold trading activities in the country.

According to the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Goldbod, Sammy Gyamfi, this will save the government from any leakages in revenue mobilisation in the sector, helping to generate and invest revenue for economic development.

“(This will) help the state combat and defeat the phenomenon of gold smuggling, the canker of illegal gold trading, and price disruptions that deprive the state of the needed revenue, profit, and the needed forex for our economy and the development of our country,” he announced.

He thus cautioned traders to secure the appropriate licence to engage in any form of gold trading in the country, saying, “But for those who are hell bent on trading illegally without the licenses, we are serving notice that we are coming after you”.

Earlier, the GoldBod CEO on June 5 also warned that persons who trade without licenses would be prosecuted, adding that his outfit takes no bribes before the said licenses are issued.

During a meeting with the Chamber of Licensed Gold Buyers, Mr Gyamfi stated that "I don’t take or demand bribes before I issue a licence."

The acting CEO noted that the process for registering has been made seamless and is devoid of corruption. "We have removed the human interface element, and so there is no corruption, bribery, inducements, or favouritism. It is a very transparent and competitive process, and once you qualify, you get the license," he added.

Lauding his outfit’s results-oriented reforms and initiatives since his takeover as CEO, Sammy Gyamfi, during a media engagement, revealed that GoldBod has exceeded the $5 billion mark in gold export value for the first half of 2025, surpassing the $4.6 billion recorded for the entire year of 2024.

He expressed optimism that GoldBod would hit the 60-tonne export mark by the end of July 2025, driven by stronger compliance, improved oversight, and the streamlined licensing regime under the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 (Act 1140).

“In the whole of 2024, gold exports stood at 66 tons with an export value of $4.6 billion. We have done only six months, and yet we have crossed the $4.6 billion. We have gone beyond $5 billion, and in terms of volumes, we have done 50 tons and over, and we are optimistic that by the end of next month, we will have hit 60 tons,” he said.

The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) is the sole authority with exclusive right to buy, sell, weigh, grade, assay, value and export gold and other precious minerals in Ghana. The Ghana Gold Board functions under the oversight and supervision of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Ghana.

History of GoldBod

The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) is a body corporate established by an Act of Parliament (ACT 1140) in the year 2025 to oversee, regulate and undertake the buying, selling, assaying, refining, exporting and other related activities in respect of Gold and other Precious Minerals in Ghana.

The GoldBod per section 78 of ACT 1140, took over the rights, obligations, assets, liabilities and workforce of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) Limited, which is an offshoot of the Ghana Diamond Marketing Board.

In 1963, the Ghana Diamond Marketing Board was established and charged with the responsibility of purchasing and marketing Ghana’s diamonds.

In 1965, by a Legislative Instrument (LI) 401, the Ghana Diamond Marketing Board was incorporated as a State-Owned Enterprise (SOE).

Upon the promulgation of the diamonds decree (NRCD 32) in 1972, LI 916 was enacted to change the company’s name to Diamond Marketing Corporation.

In 1989, PNDC Law 219 was enacted to yet again change the Company’s name to the Precious Minerals Marketing Corporation with enhanced functions to grade, assay, value gold, diamonds and other precious minerals of the country.

In the year 2000, the Corporation was converted by the Statutory Corporations Conversion to Companies Act (ACT 461) to a Limited Liability Company to operate under the Ghana Companies Code Act, (ACT 179) 1963, as Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) Limited with the same functions.

In the year 2016, the PMMC was appointed the national assayer by the government of Ghana.

To strengthen industry regulation and optimize national benefits, the Ghana GoldBod was established on 2 April, 2025 by the government of Ghana to restructure and streamline the precious mineral trading sector of Ghana.

The GoldBod initiative is a product of extensive stakeholder consultations and aims at maximizing foreign exchange inflows, gold reserve accumulation and value addition for sustainable growth and transformation.