Media and Public Relations Manager of Shatta Movement, Samuel Atuobi Baah, popularly known as Sammy Flex, has revealed that negative press coverage caused dancehall artiste Shatta Wale to lose a $2 million international distribution deal for his upcoming African King album.
Speaking on Accra based Starr FM with Feeling Daddy on Saturday, August 16, Sammy Flex said the management team had reached advanced negotiations with a foreign distribution agency before damaging reports surfaced, linking Shatta Wale to fraud and an alleged Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) investigation.
“Everything was looking good until stories started running… Shatta Wale fraud, Shatta Wale EOCO. Then all of a sudden, one email drops… now, we are stuck,” he disclosed.
According to him, the international agency, which had expressed strong interest in promoting Shatta Wale globally, halted the deal to verify the allegations.
“We were this close to signing. But because of these things people wrote, the people said, ‘Oh, let’s hold on and check this person well before we sign the deal.’ That’s why we’re still here,” he added.
Sammy Flex cautioned that what many dismiss as mere rumours in Ghana have far-reaching consequences on the global stage.
“The things you think people say about him that you consider small, do you know how they affect his business?” he questioned.
The revelation comes amid EOCO’s recent seizure of Shatta Wale’s Lamborghini Urus over alleged links to illicit assets belonging to convicted Ghanaian fraudster Nana Kwabena Amuah, who is currently serving a seven-year jail term in the United States.
Although Shatta Wale has not been charged, EOCO confirmed he remains a person of interest in the joint investigation with the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
