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Anansi's Gold
Anansi's Gold
The Man who swindled the world
by Yepoka Yeebo
Shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize | A New York Times, New Yorker, Washington Post, Newsweek, TIME Book of the Year 2023
'Fabulously entertaining' Daily Telegraph
'Perfect for fans of Frank Abignale Jr.'s Catch Me If You Can' Publishers Weekly
The astounding, never-before-told story of how an ingenious Ghanaian con artist ran one of the 20th century's longest and most audacious frauds.
When Ghana declared independence from Britain in 1957, it immediately became a target for opportunists determined to lay hold of whatever assets colonialism hadn't already stripped. The military ousted the new nation's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, then falsely accused him of stealing the country's gold and hiding it overseas.
Into this story stepped one of history's most charismatic scammers, John Ackah Blay-Miezah – a con man to rival the trickster god Anansi. Born into poverty, Blay-Miezah declared himself the custodian of an alleged Nkrumah trust fund worth billions. You, too, could claim a piece, if only you would help him rescue it – with a small investment. Over the 1970s and '80s, he grew his scam to epic proportions, amassing hundreds of millions of pounds from thousands of marks all over the world. He baffled Henry Kissinger, scandalised Shirley Temple-Black, and had Nixon's former attorney-general at his beck and call. Many tried to stop him, but Blay-Miezah continued to live in luxury, protected by ex-SAS soldiers while he deceived lawyers, businessmen and investigators around the globe.
In Anansi's Gold, Yepoka Yeebo chases the ever-wilder trail of Blay-Miezah – and unfolds a riveting account of Cold War entanglements and African dreams – revealing the untold story of the grifter who beat the West at its own thieving game.
'Fabulously entertaining' Daily Telegraph
'Perfect for fans of Frank Abignale Jr.'s Catch Me If You Can' Publishers Weekly
The astounding, never-before-told story of how an ingenious Ghanaian con artist ran one of the 20th century's longest and most audacious frauds.
When Ghana declared independence from Britain in 1957, it immediately became a target for opportunists determined to lay hold of whatever assets colonialism hadn't already stripped. The military ousted the new nation's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, then falsely accused him of stealing the country's gold and hiding it overseas.
Into this story stepped one of history's most charismatic scammers, John Ackah Blay-Miezah – a con man to rival the trickster god Anansi. Born into poverty, Blay-Miezah declared himself the custodian of an alleged Nkrumah trust fund worth billions. You, too, could claim a piece, if only you would help him rescue it – with a small investment. Over the 1970s and '80s, he grew his scam to epic proportions, amassing hundreds of millions of pounds from thousands of marks all over the world. He baffled Henry Kissinger, scandalised Shirley Temple-Black, and had Nixon's former attorney-general at his beck and call. Many tried to stop him, but Blay-Miezah continued to live in luxury, protected by ex-SAS soldiers while he deceived lawyers, businessmen and investigators around the globe.
In Anansi's Gold, Yepoka Yeebo chases the ever-wilder trail of Blay-Miezah – and unfolds a riveting account of Cold War entanglements and African dreams – revealing the untold story of the grifter who beat the West at its own thieving game.
Shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize | A New York Times, New Yorker, Washington Post, Newsweek, TIME Book of the Year 2023
'Fabulously entertaining' Daily Telegraph
'Perfect for fans of Frank Abignale Jr.'s Catch Me If You Can' Publishers Weekly
The astounding, never-before-told story of how an ingenious Ghanaian con artist ran one of the 20th century's longest and most audacious frauds.
When Ghana declared independence from Britain in 1957, it immediately became a target for opportunists determined to lay hold of whatever assets colonialism hadn't already stripped. The military ousted the new nation's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, then falsely accused him of stealing the country's gold and hiding it overseas.
Into this story stepped one of history's most charismatic scammers, John Ackah Blay-Miezah – a con man to rival the trickster god Anansi. Born into poverty, Blay-Miezah declared himself the custodian of an alleged Nkrumah trust fund worth billions. You, too, could claim a piece, if only you would help him rescue it – with a small investment. Over the 1970s and '80s, he grew his scam to epic proportions, amassing hundreds of millions of pounds from thousands of marks all over the world. He baffled Henry Kissinger, scandalised Shirley Temple-Black, and had Nixon's former attorney-general at his beck and call. Many tried to stop him, but Blay-Miezah continued to live in luxury, protected by ex-SAS soldiers while he deceived lawyers, businessmen and investigators around the globe.
In Anansi's Gold, Yepoka Yeebo chases the ever-wilder trail of Blay-Miezah – and unfolds a riveting account of Cold War entanglements and African dreams – revealing the untold story of the grifter who beat the West at its own thieving game.
'Fabulously entertaining' Daily Telegraph
'Perfect for fans of Frank Abignale Jr.'s Catch Me If You Can' Publishers Weekly
The astounding, never-before-told story of how an ingenious Ghanaian con artist ran one of the 20th century's longest and most audacious frauds.
When Ghana declared independence from Britain in 1957, it immediately became a target for opportunists determined to lay hold of whatever assets colonialism hadn't already stripped. The military ousted the new nation's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, then falsely accused him of stealing the country's gold and hiding it overseas.
Into this story stepped one of history's most charismatic scammers, John Ackah Blay-Miezah – a con man to rival the trickster god Anansi. Born into poverty, Blay-Miezah declared himself the custodian of an alleged Nkrumah trust fund worth billions. You, too, could claim a piece, if only you would help him rescue it – with a small investment. Over the 1970s and '80s, he grew his scam to epic proportions, amassing hundreds of millions of pounds from thousands of marks all over the world. He baffled Henry Kissinger, scandalised Shirley Temple-Black, and had Nixon's former attorney-general at his beck and call. Many tried to stop him, but Blay-Miezah continued to live in luxury, protected by ex-SAS soldiers while he deceived lawyers, businessmen and investigators around the globe.
In Anansi's Gold, Yepoka Yeebo chases the ever-wilder trail of Blay-Miezah – and unfolds a riveting account of Cold War entanglements and African dreams – revealing the untold story of the grifter who beat the West at its own thieving game.
Reviews-
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Starred review from May 15, 2023
Journalist Yeebo brilliantly illuminates the stranger-than-fiction career of Ghanaian fraudster John Ackah Blay-Miezah (1941–1992) in this thrilling true-crime account. The opening section, set in 1974, showcases Blay-Miezah’s incredible brazenness: despite being in prison for fraud, he arranged to be brought from his cell to a meeting with Ghana’s military ruler, Ignatius Kutu Acheampong. With Ghana drowning in debt, Acheampong was eager to accept Blay-Miezah’s claim that the country’s deceased first president had concealed millions in Swiss bank vaults and put him in charge of the funds; all Blay-Miezah needed to boost Ghana’s battered economy was his freedom and a diplomatic passport. After getting both, he spent decades scamming deep-pocketed investors into helping him “rescue” that nonexistent trust fund so they could grab a piece for themselves. The prismatic narrative features appearances by child actor–turned–diplomat Shirley Temple and former Nixon attorney general John Mitchell, whose consulting firm was hired by Blay-Miezah to give the fund a veneer of respectability. When investors got cold feet, Mitchell would call to offer reassurances that returns were on their way. Yeebo’s details and research are beyond meticulous, and she spins her central con artist into a charismatic lead. This is perfect for fans of Frank Abignale Jr.’s Catch Me If You Can. Agent: Jin Auh, Wylie Agency. - TIME, The 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 Through meticulous and shrewd reporting, Yeebo breaks down the many reasons why Blay-Miezah's claims were too enticing for even the most sophisticated marks to ignore . . . Anansi's Gold is an enthralling rags-to-stolen-riches story, a thrilling true-crime caper, and a sharp indictment of a world that allows scammers like Blay-Miezah to thrive
- Daily Telegraph Fabulously entertaining . . . like all good biographies of artists, Yeebo's book conveys the uniqueness of his personality while also showing how his art was forged in, and fed the requirements of, the times in which he lived
- New York Times Book Review: 100 Notable Books of 2023 Yepoka Yeebo's riveting Anansi's Gold traces the outlines of Blay-Miezah's life, shedding light on how he perpetrated his deceptions for years while living in incredible opulence. The author delves into archives across the Atlantic, digs up criminal proceedings and conducts interviews with victims and associates alike, in the process telling us not just about Blay-Miezah, but about the world that enabled him to thrive
- Financial Times The remarkable story of John Ackah Blay-Miezah, a charismatic Ghanaian huckster who for two decades masterminded what she plausibly calls "one of the greatest con artists of all time" . . . The book is crisp and well-told, brimming with vivid scenes and colourful writing
- Times Literary Supplement As Yepoka Yeebo makes clear in her richly entertaining account of [Blay-Miesah's] rise and fall, he combined charisma and a silver tongue, attracting both the greedy and the idealistic . . . She has a sharp eye for droll detail and is especially successful in evoking the two decades that followed independence – a glitzy but sleazy world of nightclubs and casinos "where the champagne flowed, even when the electricity did not"
- Publishers Weekly Journalist Yeebo brilliantly illuminates the stranger-than-fiction career of Ghanaian fraudster John Ackah Blay-Miezah (1941–1992) in this thrilling true-crime account . . . Yeebo's details and research are beyond meticulous, and she spins her central con artist into a charismatic lead. This is perfect for fans of Frank Abignale Jr.'s Catch Me If You Can
- The Bookseller This début by a ferociously talented journalist draws on years of reporting as it tells the "astounding", hitherto untold story of ingenious Ghanaian con artist John Ackah Blay-Miezah
- Kirkus Reviews Even as [Yeebo] catches readers up in what often reads like a breathless caper, the author takes care to ground them in what matters most: Ghana and its sadly 'fragile' history . . . Utterly absorbing
- Town & Country In this absorbing true crime narrative, Yeebo details the fascinating story of this audacious con artist
- Literary Review As Yeebo reveals in elegant prose, bringing complex detail, vivid background colour and an extensive cast into her compelling narrative, the Oman Ghana Trust Fund never existed and the tale of...
