On the trail of Blay-Miezah's fortune

(The Chronicle) -- It was about 2.00 pm in Philadelphia, USA in 1962. Robert Ellis, a stout Black America driver jumped behind the wheels of a white Mayflower van. Right in front of him was Mr Ackah Blay-Miezah, clad in a British suit and spotting a derby hat at the back seat of a posh Mercedes Benz.

These two cars were bearing numbers from Ghana’s Embassy in Washington. Ghana flags were also hoisted on the bonnets of the vehicles. Blay-Miezah, the man sent to America as a special spy for Ghana’s Prime Minister, Dr Kwame Nkrumah was wielding his diplomatic passport and flashing it in the faces of American security officers from one check-point to the other.

It all looked like an official assignment of the Government of Ghana, which was being coordinated by its embassy in Washington. It was far from that. The operation was rather a conspiracy hatched between a club of American businessmen and Ghana’s chief spy to smuggle millions of dollars out of America to Canada. The Canada-bound van was unsuspectingly loaded with dollars.

The American businessmen were smuggling the millions of dollars outside America in order to evade tax. The deal was that Blay-Miezah should use his diplomatic influence to help the business group to smuggle the money out of America using the Ghana Embassy in Washington as a decoy. Lo and behold, the deal which later made Nkrumah’s spy a money bag was successful. Blay had been the Osagyefo’s listening ear in the Philadelphia area as far back as the late ‘50’s.

The money was safely transported from Philadelphia, the city where America’s Constitution was signed, to Canada, courtesy Blay-Miezah, who according to investigations, used his diplomatic immunity and free passage to sneak past American security.

Once in Canada, an account was hurriedly opened in the name of Blay-Miezah, who used his name, and diplomatic passport number of the opening of the account. This made him the sole signatory to the account. Insiders say “as soon as the money went into Blay-Miezah’s name the American business group lost their power over it. The millions of dollars were now in his name and he could legally claim ownership.”

This marked the beginning of Blay-Miezah’s riches and affluent life. The Ghanaian dollar-man was later described as a conman by some sections of British media because they could not have any physical evidence of his business yet he drove in Limousines and slept in the most expensive hotel in the UK. He was also spotted in most cases with his bodyguards. It could be recalled that Blay-Miezah, in his will, left an amount of $40 million to the people of Ghana.

While others dismiss the claim that he had that much money, insiders maintain that the legacy is real. Sources who were personally involved in several negotiations on behalf of Blay-Miezah have also confirmed to the Chronicle that Blay-Miezah left a lot of money behind. The only problem they said is that “the real owners of the money would not let it go especially now that he is dead. It is real my brother it is.”

According to Mr Kojo Amoah (original name withheld), after the account was opened in Canada, several chunks of the money was later transferred into accounts in the Bahamas and Cayman Island. “From there, the money was invested in other parts of the world and the earnings were re-invested. It was like a roll-over type of investment so Blay-Miezah was only blowing the interest and returns on the investments,” he said.

“This is not a joke. I was personally involved and so were several officials of the AFRC and PNDC regimes. I can bet with my last coin that most of the money will be in the Bahamas, Cayman Island, Switzerland, Canada and Brazil. I know for a fact that a lot of Blay’s money was later transferred to Brazil in the name of the Ghana Embassy in Brazil.”

Franklin Bawuah (original name withheld) also told Chronicle investigators in an interview that the American business club led by Bob Chulman and Lowen Thal were later blackmailed by Blay-Miezah, and that was why they continued to bankroll his expensive lifestyles.

“They promised to take good care of him and pay for all his expenses. Blay-Miezah spent all his time at Cromwell Hotel, an expensive hotel in the UK at the time. I remember that on one occasion he booked a suite at Cromwell Hotel for my friend and I. He paid everything,” Bawuah said.

Years later, Blay-Miezah run out of luck as Nkrumah’s government was overthrown. His diplomatic passport also expired. He was desperately in need of a new one with the same number since that was what he had used for all his bank transactions. “He needed a new diplomatic passport with the same number and was almost impossible especially coming at a time when Nkrumah was no more in power.

After going round, he found himself in the hands of Kojo Tsikata, who assured to help him. Kojo wanted proof of his riches. Kojo wanted everything to be done on the quiet but Blay-Miezah was a talkative and a braggart,” Bawuah added.

Enter Kojo Tsikata, former security wizard of ex-President Rawlings who was later chased into exile by the same Rawlings regime. He is one person whose name keeps popping up in Chronicle’s ongoing investigations into this matter. According to Mr Bawuah, “I remember that Blay-Miezah picked up a phone and called one of his banks in The Hague, Holland. I also remember that somebody was sent to Holland to meet the bankers on his behalf.

“The bankers after the meeting with the representative from Ghana sent a fax to Blay-Miezah and told him all that had transpired at the meeting. Before that person could return from Holland, Blay Miezah had circulated the news and the faxed message around and this, I again remember, angered Kojo who wanted everything to be done on the quiet.

After his diplomatic passport with the same number was renewed, courtesy Kojo Tsikata, Blay-Miezah was not allowed to travel alone for fear that he was going to run away. He was always made to travel outside the country with two bodyguards. Insiders told Chronicle investigators that Blay-Miezah used these two bodyguards as propaganda and a symbol of his wealth.

“I recall that on one occasion, whiles Blay-Miezah was in the UK, he gave 5,000 pounds to his two bodyguards to go to town and shop. Before they came he vanished and checked into another hotel and that was bad for the poor bodyguards,” another source said.

“Look, the money is there, the earlier we get interested and find out the better because I know that there are several ex-officials of the previous government who know where the monies are. They have taken their share already. As for the legacy don’t doubt it; it is real. The only problem is whether Bob Chulman, Lowen Thal and their group will allow anybody to go near the account. They have waited for far too long,” the source continued.

According to impeccable sources, officials of the NDC government allegedly managed to transfer large amounts of that money to Brazil in the name of the Ghana Embassy. This, according to the insiders, was during the time when one Dr Awoonor was Ghana’s Ambassador to Brazil. “During Awoonor’s tenure of office as Ghana’s Ambassador to Brazil, ex-officials (names withheld for further investigations) traveled to Brazil one after the other for their share of the money. If you doubt it go and ask,” the source urged