The court has put an end to Q-Net.
An Accra High Court has approved the petition of Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame to wind up Q-net Investment Limited. The petition alleged that the company was conducting something analogous to a ponzi scam and defrauding consumers who did not know what they were getting into.
In accordance with Section 84(2)(d) and (e) of the Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring Act, (Act 1015) the Attorney General (AG) had petitioned the court to order the dissolution of Q-net since the company had been involved in illegal operations in addition to those for which it was registered.
The Attorney General petitioned the court for three different types of relief, including an order for the company to be formally dissolved, an order restraining the company’s members, directors, and officials from exercising certain powers related to the purported business the company was supposed to be conducting, and an order officially winding up the company.
In his appeal to the court, Mr. Dame stated that Q-net was being run for criminal and illegal objectives, or that it was engaging in business that was not authorized by the organization’s constitution, which was working against the national interest.
According to the petition filed by the AG, court documents stated that Q-net was registered for the primary businesses of mining, oil and gas, real estate development, farming, transport services, building construction, civil engineering, and import and export services.
According to the AG, Q-net is a subsidiary of a worldwide marketing firm that is controlled by Quest International or QI Group, and has its headquarters in Hong Kong. The company also has offices in Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Mali, and Ghana, all of which are in West Africa. It is stated that individuals of Togolese, Ivorian, Nigerian, Burkinabe, and Malian descent predominate in their Ghanaian businesses. The Attorney General stated in his petition that hundreds of victims of Q- Net’s dishonest and illegal activities were in the Bolgatanga Municipality, and that community leaders, including traditional rulers, had expressed concern about the security threat that the operation of the company posed to their communities.
It was the position of the Attorney General that the widespread criminal and illegal purposes for which Q-net was being operated, which were contrary to the stated incorporation purpose of the company, grossly undermined its existence in Ghanaian communities, posing a direct security threat to the peace, economic stability, and social stability of parts of the country, and requiring the AG to take steps to wind it up in order to protect the national interest.
The company did not make an appearance in court, and the Attorney General (AG) provided corroborative statements of two witnesses who told the court about the devastating effects of the activities of Q-net in the Upper West Region. Q-net is accused of promising individuals nonexistent jobs in the oil and mining sectors, and it has succeeded in doing so by taking various sums of money ranging from GH5,000 to GH15,000 from individuals.
The court, which was presided over by Justice Jennifer Dadzie, found that the monies obtained by Q-net Investment Limited from its activities represent the proceeds of crime. In addition, the court found that the failure of the company to explain the nature of its activities and what it was doing with the money, other than laundering the money, is indicative of the company operating in an illegal or objectionable manner.
“Where established companies are engines of illegality, having deviated woefully from what they were established to accomplish, their continued existence must be immediately apprehended. This applies particularly to situations in which the company in question has been caught red-handed engaging in illegal activity. In order to put an end to that unlawfulness, winding up is something that is required. “”The petition of the petitioner to wind up the respondent (Q-net Investment Ltd.) is hereby granted as prayed,” the court decided. “The petitioner may proceed to wind up the respondent.”
The court went on to say, “It is further directed that the respondent, Q-net Investment Limited, be and is hereby wound-up.”
Further, Justice Dadzie issued an order that restrained the members, directors, and officers of Q-net Investment Limited from exercising the powers that are ordinarily conferred on them by the Companies Act 1993, Act 179, under which the company was incorporated, as well as the constitution of the company, which was disclosed on its documents of incorporation, and any other business that the company may purport to undertake in Ghana, as well as the disposal of any assets owned by Q-net Investment Limited.