In March 2025, Ghana’s Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources received a damning legal petition from Randolph Forbes Ballard Jr., Esq., a U.S.-based attorney with Simbal Law Group International.
The letter exposed a multi-decade fraud scheme involving the unlawful seizure of a gold prospecting license belonging to AG Marketing Company Ltd. (AG Ghana), a legally registered Ghanaian company founded by Ghanaian businessman John Simpson.
A Golden Opportunity Stolen: The AG Ghana Saga
In the bustling corridors of Ghana’s Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources, a storm was brewing in March 2025.
A letter arrived from Randolph Forbes Ballard Jr., Esq., a respected U.S. attorney. Its contents were explosive: Ballard detailed a sweeping fraud that had, for decades, denied AG Marketing Company Ltd. (AG Ghana) its lawful gold prospecting license.
AG Ghana’s story began in 1988, when John Simpson and Antonio Croom established the company. Their big break came in 1989, when Ghana’s Minerals Commission granted them a coveted gold prospecting license. But what should have been a story of entrepreneurial success quickly turned into a cautionary tale of betrayal and corporate intrigue.
The Original License and the Corporate Hijacking
Behind the scenes, Antonio Croom allegedly betrayed his partner. In 1995, Croom is alleged to have fraudulently coaxed Minerals Company to reissued AG Ghana’s license under the name of A.G. Marketing Inc. of Maryland, a U.S. company that had been dissolved five years prior.
Without Simpson’s knowledge or consent, the Maryland company was then rebranded as Vista Mining Corporation as if it has had a name changed to Vista , setting in motion a tangled web of deception. Reports from Tennessee company registry indicates that Antonio Croom is not a director of Vista Mining Corporation but one William Pettigrew from Surry and Vancouver, Canada a director of Vista Mining Corporation and former director of Ashanti Sankofa is masterminded everything.
The Tennessee Deception
As investigators dug deeper, more troubling facts emerged. Vista Mining Corporation, which claimed rights to the Ghanaian license as early as 1989, wasn’t even registered in Tennessee until 1992 and in Ghana as an external in 1994.
Despite this, Vista presented itself as the successor to the Maryland entity, though records showed the two were entirely separate. Alongside its affiliates, Ashanti Sankofa Inc. and Norcan Mining Corporation, Vista’s was taken over by Ashanti Sankofa Inc formerly known as AMI Resources Inc mounted its signage on AG Marketing Company Ltd’s gold concession at Adumasa without registration as an external company in Ghana and used the report from the gold concession to trade shares on Vancouver Stock Exchange and succeeded in raising millions of dollars as indicated in news releases published by Ashanti Sankofa/AMI Resources while bypassing local laws.
Fraud Has No Time Bound And Vitiates everything
Vista and Ashanti Sankofa continued to possess the concession for another 27 years, with regulatory bodies turning a blind eye, since several letters written to Vista and Ashanti Sankofa to explain how the licenses were transferred to them has not been answered to date.
The Legal Petitions of 2025
The saga gained renewed attention in 2025, when two legal heavyweights intervened alongside police criminal investigations.
1. Randolph Forbes Ballard Jr.’s Petition (March 2025):
Ballard’s letter laid out a damning case: fraudulent backdating of documents, a fake resolution issued by an unrelated third party, and fugitive directors, some of whom were hiding in the UK and Canada, who had evaded police summons. Ballard demanded the immediate reinstatement of AG Ghana’s license, a manhunt for the directors, and disciplinary action against corrupt officials.
2. Hensen Kwadwo Kodua’s Follow-Up (July 2025):
In July, Hensen Kwadwo Kodua, a Ghanaian Supreme Court solicitor, doubled down on these claims. He highlighted the Minerals Commission’s failure to perform due diligence, noted that Ashanti Sankofa and Norcan Mining had no legal claim to the concession, and revealed that the Ghana Police CID had opened an investigation, though the suspects remained at large.
Regulatory Failures
The AG Ghana case exposed serious flaws in Ghana’s mining sector oversight:
The Minerals Commission approved transfers without proper verification.
Unregistered foreign entities were allowed to exploit Ghana’s natural resources with impunity.
Where the Fight Stands Now
The Ghana Police have now reached out to the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, seeking guidance as their investigation continues. Yet, the illegal license transfer remains in place.
For John Simpson, the battle isn’t over, he continues his long quest for justice and the restoration of AG Ghana’s rightful mineral rights.
Source: Apexnewsgh.com
