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Anansi's Gold
The astounding, never-before-told story of how an audacious Ghanaian con artist pulled off one of the 20th century’s longest-running and most spectacular frauds.
When Ghana won its independence from Britain in 1957, it instantly became a target for home-grown opportunists and rapacious Western interests determined to snatch any assets that colonialism hadn’t already stripped. A CIA-funded military junta ousted the new nation’s inspiring president, Kwame Nkrumah, then falsely accused him of hiding the country’s gold overseas.
Into this big lie stepped one of history’s most charismatic scammers, a con man to rival the trickster god Anansi. Born into poverty in Ghana and trained in the United States, John Ackah Blay-Miezah declared himself custodian of an alleged Nkrumah trust fund worth billions. You, too, could claim a piece--if only you would “invest” in Blay-Miezah’s fictitious efforts to release the equally fictitious fund. Over the 1970s and ‘80s, he and his accomplices―including Ghanaian state officials and Nixon’s former attorney general--scammed hundreds of millions of dollars out of thousands of believers. Blay-Miezah lived in luxury, deceiving Philadelphia lawyers, London financiers, and Seoul businessmen alike, all while eluding his FBI pursuers. American prosecutors called his scam “one of the most fascinating--and lucrative--in modern history.”
In Anansi’s Gold , Yepoka Yeebo chases Blay-Miezah’s ever-wilder trail and discovers, at long last, what really happened to Ghana’s missing wealth. She unfolds a riveting account of Cold War entanglements, international finance, and postcolonial betrayal, revealing how what we call “history” writes itself into being, one lie at a time.
When Ghana won its independence from Britain in 1957, it instantly became a target for home-grown opportunists and rapacious Western interests determined to snatch any assets that colonialism hadn’t already stripped. A CIA-funded military junta ousted the new nation’s inspiring president, Kwame Nkrumah, then falsely accused him of hiding the country’s gold overseas.
Into this big lie stepped one of history’s most charismatic scammers, a con man to rival the trickster god Anansi. Born into poverty in Ghana and trained in the United States, John Ackah Blay-Miezah declared himself custodian of an alleged Nkrumah trust fund worth billions. You, too, could claim a piece--if only you would “invest” in Blay-Miezah’s fictitious efforts to release the equally fictitious fund. Over the 1970s and ‘80s, he and his accomplices―including Ghanaian state officials and Nixon’s former attorney general--scammed hundreds of millions of dollars out of thousands of believers. Blay-Miezah lived in luxury, deceiving Philadelphia lawyers, London financiers, and Seoul businessmen alike, all while eluding his FBI pursuers. American prosecutors called his scam “one of the most fascinating--and lucrative--in modern history.”
In Anansi’s Gold , Yepoka Yeebo chases Blay-Miezah’s ever-wilder trail and discovers, at long last, what really happened to Ghana’s missing wealth. She unfolds a riveting account of Cold War entanglements, international finance, and postcolonial betrayal, revealing how what we call “history” writes itself into being, one lie at a time.
400 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2023
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9631 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 185 reviews
August 29, 2023
A remarkable account of a conman who leveraged Ghana's national mythology, political chaos, and western greed to enrich and empower himself for nearly two decades. It was hard not to see the similarities with the actions and rise of our own tangerine conman.
June 22, 2025
Could’ve been more interesting, but I found it tedious and unrelatable. Couldn’t even find s way to feel sorry for anyone. Perhaps too factually presented. I think it’s the narration that fell short.
June 3, 2024
I've finally finished my first nonfiction book of the year!!! I misled many family members because I didn't realize there were notes/references in the back, but I still kind of wish they were footnotes so I could specifically see where the author got her facts from.
Overall this was a very well written book - the author has an engaging style that isn't dry the way many nonfiction books are and the story is compelling. I did sort of feel like I got lost at the end (although that could be because it took me months to finish). I sort of lost the plot and how or why the scams were working and what the moral story the author was trying to tell was. I feel like there were some big leaps in the final chapter that didn't naturally flow from the rest of the book.
The earlier chapters detailing colonial and post-colonial exploitation of Ghana were the most interesting to me, I was less interested in the scam and the scammer than in the discovery in concrete detail of all the horrible sh*t the US and UK did in Ghana. Overall a worthy read.
Overall this was a very well written book - the author has an engaging style that isn't dry the way many nonfiction books are and the story is compelling. I did sort of feel like I got lost at the end (although that could be because it took me months to finish). I sort of lost the plot and how or why the scams were working and what the moral story the author was trying to tell was. I feel like there were some big leaps in the final chapter that didn't naturally flow from the rest of the book.
The earlier chapters detailing colonial and post-colonial exploitation of Ghana were the most interesting to me, I was less interested in the scam and the scammer than in the discovery in concrete detail of all the horrible sh*t the US and UK did in Ghana. Overall a worthy read.
August 3, 2023
In this book John Ablakah had a scam that affected everyone from the president of Ghana to Ghana‘s ambassador Shirley Temple black and everyone in between I do believe we have found the person we can blame for the Nigerian prince who cannot get his trust fun scam and it is this man. He took a rumor and expound on borrowed against it had others invest in it and became rich because of it this is a very interesting book and I do believe the author Yapoka Yebo did a phenomenal job writing a nonfiction book that is not only interesting but astounding. I was amazed at how many names I knew in this book about a story I had never heard of before. Please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review I want to thank net galley and the publisher for my free arc copy.
August 14, 2023
Did not finish. I wanted to like this. I'm fascinated by the history of grifters, and the political intrigue also interested me. But the prose fell flat for me, and eventually I found myself skimming.
September 9, 2023
Dr John Ackah Blay-Miezah - politician, investor, philanthropist, football club owner, royal, patriot, conman. A man who came from abject poverty in Ghana to run a con so successful that he not only extracted tens of millions of dollars from investors in Ghana, the US, the UK, and South Korea, but 3 decades after his death there are still people who swear he told the truth.
Most cons are structured as Ponzi schemes, but Blay-Miezah’s frightening ability to defraud sophisticated Western and Ghanaian business owners, politicians, and even activists of their money from the early 1970s to early 1990s and never pay a cent back is quite rare.
Yepoka takes no shortcuts in explaining why Blay-Miezah was so successful. She takes great pains to explain how Ghana’s history of being exploited by several European countries created the perception that it was exceptionally rich - a mine inhabited by people who did not have any use for the wealth around them. Combined with the West’s own slander of the nation’s first president as corrupt, Blay-Miezah created an unoriginal tale of the nation’s wealth being kept in Swiss banks, but with the twist that he was the only one who could access and repatriate that wealth.
Through changing military and civilian regimes, Blay-Miezah spun his tales as craftily as the fabled Ghanaian trickster, Anansi the spider. He thrived in the turbulence of the times, worming his way into the audience of almost every Ghanaian head of state from the 70s to the 90s, and surrounding himself with prominent statesmen, journalists, spy chiefs, and royalty that all vouched for the legitimacy of his Oman Ghana Trust Fund.
As a Ghanaian, I am most grateful that Yepoka’s book is as much a book on Ghanaian politics from the first republic to the dawn of the fourth republic as it is on Blay-Miezah’s life. The young nation was barely on its feet when the cocktail of Cold War politics, African liberation struggles, domestic political violence, and corruption led it to over 20 years of instability. Blay-Miezah was in many ways a man of his time. A man with a simple, if fraudulent, explanation for Ghana’s failures and medicine for its malaise.
This is definitely a 5-star book and a brilliant debut from Yepoka Yeebo. If you’re a young Ghanaian interested in understanding the politics that led to our current system I daresay it’s a must read.
Most cons are structured as Ponzi schemes, but Blay-Miezah’s frightening ability to defraud sophisticated Western and Ghanaian business owners, politicians, and even activists of their money from the early 1970s to early 1990s and never pay a cent back is quite rare.
Yepoka takes no shortcuts in explaining why Blay-Miezah was so successful. She takes great pains to explain how Ghana’s history of being exploited by several European countries created the perception that it was exceptionally rich - a mine inhabited by people who did not have any use for the wealth around them. Combined with the West’s own slander of the nation’s first president as corrupt, Blay-Miezah created an unoriginal tale of the nation’s wealth being kept in Swiss banks, but with the twist that he was the only one who could access and repatriate that wealth.
Through changing military and civilian regimes, Blay-Miezah spun his tales as craftily as the fabled Ghanaian trickster, Anansi the spider. He thrived in the turbulence of the times, worming his way into the audience of almost every Ghanaian head of state from the 70s to the 90s, and surrounding himself with prominent statesmen, journalists, spy chiefs, and royalty that all vouched for the legitimacy of his Oman Ghana Trust Fund.
As a Ghanaian, I am most grateful that Yepoka’s book is as much a book on Ghanaian politics from the first republic to the dawn of the fourth republic as it is on Blay-Miezah’s life. The young nation was barely on its feet when the cocktail of Cold War politics, African liberation struggles, domestic political violence, and corruption led it to over 20 years of instability. Blay-Miezah was in many ways a man of his time. A man with a simple, if fraudulent, explanation for Ghana’s failures and medicine for its malaise.
This is definitely a 5-star book and a brilliant debut from Yepoka Yeebo. If you’re a young Ghanaian interested in understanding the politics that led to our current system I daresay it’s a must read.
February 26, 2024
You can really feel the passion and work that went into telling this story, especially when so much of the history involved was intentionally covered up and obfuscated. I picked this up because I love messy history and stories of scandals and scams, but I learned a lot about the history of Ghana and how, through colonialism, it was twisted into a perfect breeding ground for a con artist like Blay-Miezah. would definitely like to learn more about Ghanaian history and would absolutely read more from this author!
July 3, 2023
I won this book in a goodreads drawing.
The story of a very good con man from Ghana, who used a rumor of a massive store of gold to con pretty much everybody.
Very interesting. WC Fields quote, "you can't cheat an honest man" was never so true.
The story of a very good con man from Ghana, who used a rumor of a massive store of gold to con pretty much everybody.
Very interesting. WC Fields quote, "you can't cheat an honest man" was never so true.
July 15, 2023
There's a lot of talk about scam and the infamous Nigerian scammer is a sort of archetype. This is an excellent book about real life and these persons.
Well researched and well written.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Well researched and well written.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
June 24, 2024
I really wish this story was unbelievable. A decades-long scam which parlayed Blay into immense power and a millionaire's lifestyle, resistant to multiple, careful debunkings. Blay's claims - that he alone controlled billions in stolen Ghanian wealth he just needed a bit more help to transfer home - seem so easy to expose. Yeebo's excellent text, however, not only tells a gripping story but enables us to understand how this all happened. It wasn't just a lie: it was a racist lie. It was easy to believe that an independence leader President stole the wealth of the country, and hard to believe the obvious truth, that it was the British who took it with them, legally if not ethically. Blay was useful to those in power, and when he was threatened, made himself useful to an more powerful elite. He traded on racist stereotypes with neo-nazis and on liberation hopes with Black Nationalists. And he had a ready-made excuse for why Ghana was struggling, which was a welcome distraction for everyone from Washington to Accra. No-one wanted to topple the dictator Rawlings. In other words, lies are what international politics are made of.
For most of the book, Yeebo makes this a pretty fun, generally gripping read. This is a genre for eye-popping stories - smuggling cash in your underwear, buying a football team to build a popular base - and a good, page-turning chase to see when the trap will finally close. Yeebo keeps the focus on events, characters emerge mostly as ciphers and I needed the cast list at the front to keep everyone straight. But she revels in the telling. This makes it the international hit it is clearly becoming. But Yeebo also laces this judiciously with earned rage - at the destruction of the reputation of Kwame Nkrumah, who she is careful not to paint as a saint; at the ways in which Black corruption stories overshadow analysis of how one of the world's richest countries in resources ended up so very poor, and in the ways in which stories become truth while records from places such as Ghana disappear without care.
Part of what is hard to imagine, for us in our ever-connected 2024, is how easy it was for Blay to constantly reinvent his lies, to escape multiple convictions in multiple courts and surface again, renewed, insisting it had all been a misunderstanding. Yeebo draws a line between the exploitation of gaps to the ways in which history is now casually treated for Ghanians. Her passion in writing this story is not just a good yarn, it is to preserve a record, if not of anything so slippery as truth, as least of research. People need stories, this book implies. "Because if your country is just a colossal mine, what are you?" This book is a mighty contribution to having a new set of stories to build.
For most of the book, Yeebo makes this a pretty fun, generally gripping read. This is a genre for eye-popping stories - smuggling cash in your underwear, buying a football team to build a popular base - and a good, page-turning chase to see when the trap will finally close. Yeebo keeps the focus on events, characters emerge mostly as ciphers and I needed the cast list at the front to keep everyone straight. But she revels in the telling. This makes it the international hit it is clearly becoming. But Yeebo also laces this judiciously with earned rage - at the destruction of the reputation of Kwame Nkrumah, who she is careful not to paint as a saint; at the ways in which Black corruption stories overshadow analysis of how one of the world's richest countries in resources ended up so very poor, and in the ways in which stories become truth while records from places such as Ghana disappear without care.
Part of what is hard to imagine, for us in our ever-connected 2024, is how easy it was for Blay to constantly reinvent his lies, to escape multiple convictions in multiple courts and surface again, renewed, insisting it had all been a misunderstanding. Yeebo draws a line between the exploitation of gaps to the ways in which history is now casually treated for Ghanians. Her passion in writing this story is not just a good yarn, it is to preserve a record, if not of anything so slippery as truth, as least of research. People need stories, this book implies. "Because if your country is just a colossal mine, what are you?" This book is a mighty contribution to having a new set of stories to build.
September 29, 2023
Read around the world project - Ghana
Anansi's Gold is an example of a really interesting story that suffers from poor storytelling. A con man who dupes the world with a made-up trust fund, scamming politicians, businessmen and normal citizens alike from around the world? It sounded really interesting and as such, Anansi's Gold was one of my most anticipated releases of 2023.
Unfortunately, this is a very rote exploration of John Ackah Blay-Miezah’s life and actions. Each chapter felt like a regurgitation of the same situation over and over again, with our con man using the same approach on - very frequently - the same exact people. There’s no real emotion in this retelling, no exploration of psychology or motivation. It’s a shame because I feel like this could have been a really good read if it had leaned more into narrative nonfiction and less into a “he did this, and then this, and then this” kind of story. I would have DNFed if not for this global reading project, and I admit that I was thrilled when Blay-Miezah died, because I knew the book was almost over!
I did learn a little about Ghanaian politics, which I appreciated.
Anansi's Gold is an example of a really interesting story that suffers from poor storytelling. A con man who dupes the world with a made-up trust fund, scamming politicians, businessmen and normal citizens alike from around the world? It sounded really interesting and as such, Anansi's Gold was one of my most anticipated releases of 2023.
Unfortunately, this is a very rote exploration of John Ackah Blay-Miezah’s life and actions. Each chapter felt like a regurgitation of the same situation over and over again, with our con man using the same approach on - very frequently - the same exact people. There’s no real emotion in this retelling, no exploration of psychology or motivation. It’s a shame because I feel like this could have been a really good read if it had leaned more into narrative nonfiction and less into a “he did this, and then this, and then this” kind of story. I would have DNFed if not for this global reading project, and I admit that I was thrilled when Blay-Miezah died, because I knew the book was almost over!
I did learn a little about Ghanaian politics, which I appreciated.
January 11, 2024
3.5⭐️ rounded up because I have a hard time rounding down nonfiction. The prose here isn’t top notch for most of the book. There was a lot of repetition, especially in the first half, when every several pages were bookended with “so and so would come to regret the choices they had made” or “it would be so and so’s ruin.” Essentially a lot of build up without payoff. While I think it makes the book less magnetic, it also reflects the central scam rather well and I can appreciate that now that I’m done reading it.
There is a ton of interesting Ghanaian history here, most of which will be new and fascinating to the average American. So rather than a true 3.5, this is like a 3 for the writing/story treatment and a 4 for the history lesson and the impressive research.
There is a ton of interesting Ghanaian history here, most of which will be new and fascinating to the average American. So rather than a true 3.5, this is like a 3 for the writing/story treatment and a 4 for the history lesson and the impressive research.
August 13, 2023
Interesting topic, unfortunately not well told. Did not get much story arc, and instead it often read as an extremely repetitious list of times Blay-Miezah committed the same fraud over and over. It did very little to give life to the character of the man, or to explore why this kind of thing can happen.
October 7, 2024
**disclaimer: i worked on this book**
February 13, 2024
I loved this book!!! The only hurdle for me was how many important people/names there were to keep track of but the key in the beginning book was helpful and they were all vital to the story (which is a testament to how intricate the web of the Oman Ghana Trust Fund became over the decades). Amazing that Yepoka did all of the research and resource-gathering to piece this story together. Highly recommend :)
May 29, 2024
I went back and forth on this one a lot! I thought it was extraordinarily successful when it linked the con man story to larger themes, like how it fit into the exploitation of Ghana by the British, systematic destruction of documents to obscure the truth, and Ghanaian folklore. I was also so impressed by the sheer volume of sources — the bibliography at the end was fascinated. In the middle, it got bogged down by the sheer magnitude of Blay-Miezah’s scams. High three overall!
December 7, 2025
"For generations, people have wondered how a resource rich country like Ghana could be so poor. The real answer--that for centuries it was a mine that other countries used to get rich--is abstract and hard to look straight at. Because if your country is just a colossal mine, what are you?"
There is no doubt about the deep respect and admiration that Yepoka Yeebo holds for Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's founding father. Her dedication to writing this book and clearing his name makes these feelings evident. While the book centers on John Blay-Miezah and his elaborate scams, Nkrumah is the true main character. Yeebo is adamant that readers leave understanding who he truly was and what he accomplished while alive.
We follow Blay-Miezah from childhood until his death, learning how he twisted the truth to hoard wealth at the expense of many victims, some unwitting and others who sought to exploit Ghana themselves. The book is thorough and a bit unrelenting. I found myself feeling sick midway through when the scams continued even after Blay-Miezah was exposed multiple times. It's the greed of it all and the overwhelming nature of it. It's the realization that this is only one story, though the names of people involved in the theft many. But it's one story, from one country. When you consider the entire continent and imagine how many other stories there are, it's hard not to feel dizzy.
January 4, 2024
3.75, really enjoyable well written non fiction about the incredible con man John Blay Meizah and the lie about stolen ghanian gold he kept going for decades. The writing was done in a really interesting way to pack in facts about the con but also you learn about Ghana and it's tumultuous history at the same time. Shined a light on how readily people will believe anything to make money and not care about exploiting a third world country. And the wild personalities of power.
March 3, 2024
This was okay! It's an interesting piece of investigative journalism, but the writing was awkward and didn't feel well-controlled. There was a lot of repetitive detail in some places and not enough explanation in others. Also, with such a huge cast, I think it would have benefitted from more organized storytelling to keep everything straight. It felt like a series of facts suddenly being share with no real purpose, rather than a well-crafted narrative.
July 1, 2023
*a very well-written novel about John Ackah Blay - Miezah and Ghana's missing wealth
*easy to read
*well researched
*very interesting storyline from cover to cover and a part of history I was not aware of
*excellent first novel by Yepoka Yeebo
*highly recommend
*easy to read
*well researched
*very interesting storyline from cover to cover and a part of history I was not aware of
*excellent first novel by Yepoka Yeebo
*highly recommend
August 17, 2023
DNF got 60 pages in and couldn't keep track of the people. Also who I thought was the main person was barely talked about.
August 26, 2023
Compelling story told extremely well
December 18, 2023
A true page turner. Nothing like it.
March 7, 2024
Really interesting story, but so poorly written.
September 28, 2023
Neither a particularly well told story nor well narrated one.
The vast amount of repetition early in the book that xxx was this or that tested y patience. I wanted the story to begin not the teaser to go on and on and on. And, in case we forgot, the teaser was repeated regularly throughout the book.
The missed opportunity for Ghana is, unfortunately, not dissimilar to that of other countries trying to break free from colonialism. Someone, with power or persuasiveness, finds a way to squirrel away that countries fortune at the expense of its people. In this case, it wasn’t a dictator or autocrat but a persuasive con.
I just wish the story was better told. A strong editor could have condensed and tightened this into a good read.
I started reading the digital version but switch to an audio version due to the repetition. It didn’t help.
The pace of the audiobook was okay but the narration would benefit from the use of silence and pauses to emphasis points or delineate sections. Instead, the narration flows quickly through the book – perhaps a good thing as one finishes sooner than otherwise.
One and a half stars. Not the worst book but well below delightful.
The vast amount of repetition early in the book that xxx was this or that tested y patience. I wanted the story to begin not the teaser to go on and on and on. And, in case we forgot, the teaser was repeated regularly throughout the book.
The missed opportunity for Ghana is, unfortunately, not dissimilar to that of other countries trying to break free from colonialism. Someone, with power or persuasiveness, finds a way to squirrel away that countries fortune at the expense of its people. In this case, it wasn’t a dictator or autocrat but a persuasive con.
I just wish the story was better told. A strong editor could have condensed and tightened this into a good read.
I started reading the digital version but switch to an audio version due to the repetition. It didn’t help.
The pace of the audiobook was okay but the narration would benefit from the use of silence and pauses to emphasis points or delineate sections. Instead, the narration flows quickly through the book – perhaps a good thing as one finishes sooner than otherwise.
One and a half stars. Not the worst book but well below delightful.
July 20, 2025
What a story. Greed will lead people to believe anything, and the right messenger can line their pockets. Mix in post-colonial Ghanian politics, the rush for international investors to cash in, Philly, and even Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes.
April 14, 2024
Everyone is looking for a way to make easy money, and John Ackah Blay-Miezah was the man willing to sell you that dream. Blay-Miezah, a Ghanaian, was a swindler who managed for 20 years to defraud his investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars. I found it amazing how easy people were duped by Blay-Miezah. He truly was a great con man. Yeebo’s documentation is extensive, and the book is easy to read.
June 8, 2024
Pretty remarkable story. I think the format of books about crime that are secretly histories works really well. I wish it had had a little more history in fact - at some point, the story of Blay-Miezah gets a little repetitive as he pulls the same con on hundreds or thousands of marks. But overall I still enjoyed it and found the story exciting and frustrating, and a sad reflection of the history of post colonial Africa
February 6, 2025
Well written - the story itself is shocking in its twists and second chances. For her first book the author is well spoken and toes the right side of the detail oriented line.
September 10, 2024
Very interesting perspectives on recent Ghanaian events. The author is definitely not a fan of either Rawlings or Tsikata. Personally, I would have wished that the notes were at the bottom of the pages rather than at the end.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 185 reviews