?Fabulously entertaining' Daily Telegraph ?This astonishing book reveals some of the most
important global events of the twentieth century' Afua Hirsch ?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.
