Anansi's Gold
The Man Who Looted the West, Outfoxed Washington, and Swindled the World
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3.6 • 16 Ratings
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
"Catch Me if You Can meets Coming to America in this epic tale of one of the greatest scammers of all time."-NPR
Winner of the Jhalak Prize * Winner of the Plutarch Award for Biography * Shortlisted for the Mark Lynton History Prize
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year * Named one of the best books of the year by The New Yorker, NPR, Newsweek, The Economist, TIME, Slate, and WIRED
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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
One charismatic man conned the world with tales of secret Ghanaian gold, as revealed in this mind-blowing biography. Rumors circled that former president Kwame Nkrumah had stashed massive gold reserves outside of the country. So audacious “businessman” John Ackah Blay-Miezah seized upon the rumors, convincing government officials, regional dictators, and even a member of Richard Nixon’s administration to invest in his gold venture—to the tune of millions. Journalist and debut author Yepoka Yeebo’s rigorously researched account digs through letters, interviews, and recordings to understand this brazen man and his place in Ghana’s history of exploitation by British colonialists and international corporations with an eye on the country’s natural resources. Her rapid, nail-biting pace and witty, flowing prose pull us into the con and build a well-rounded picture of Blay-Miezah, his epic web of deceit, and the true history of Ghana’s missing resources. If you love a good caper, don’t pass up Anansi's Gold.
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. 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.
