Winner of the Jhalak Prize ampamp Plutarch Award A New York Times New Yorker Washington Post Newsweek TIME Book of the Year 2023Fabulously entertaining Daily Telegraph Perfect for fans of Frank Abignale Jr.s Catch Me If You Can Publishers WeeklyThe astounding neverbeforetold story of how an ingenious Ghanaian con artist ran one of the 20th centurys 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 hadnt already stripped. The military ousted the new nations first president Kwame Nkrumah then falsely accused him of stealing the countrys gold and hiding it overseas.Into this story stepped one of historys most charismatic scammers John Ackah BlayMiezah a con man to rival the trickster god Anansi. Born into poverty BlayMiezah declared himself the custodian of an alleged Nkrumah trust fund worth billions.