Two Chinese Nationals Granted Bail for Illegal Gold Trading and Money Laundering
Two Chinese nationals, Liang Shao Kong and Qin Cal Yun, accused of illegal gold trading and money laundering in Obuasi, have been granted bail by the Human Rights Division of an Accra High Court.
The accused were granted bail of GH¢500,000 each, with two sureties, one of whom must be justified. This follows their initial bail application being denied by another court. Their counsel, Nelson Noble Amedewornu, successfully filed a new bail application, while the state was represented by Amanda Awadey.
The case against the two dates back to August 2024, when officials from the Ministry of National Security conducted an undercover operation in Obuasi. Intelligence suggested that Golden Dream Limited, a company linked to the accused, was trading in gold without a license, despite being primarily registered as an excavator rental business.
Undercover agents posed as gold dealers and sold a total of 96.22 grams of gold, valued at GH¢500,109.92, to the accused. A follow-up operation on September 17, 2024, led to the discovery of 653.20 grams of gold, valued at GH¢280,709.17, and cash amounting to GH¢968,770 on the premises of Shengfa Company Limited, a Chinese-owned business operating in the same building Golden Dream Limited had vacated.
During investigations, the accused admitted to trading in gold without a license and confessed they did not have a registered business for such activities.
The accused face multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit a crime, trading in precious minerals without a license, and money laundering. The case highlights Ghana’s ongoing efforts to tackle illegal gold trading, a critical issue in the country’s mining sector.