30 days for Charlatanic Advertisement, 15 years for Defrauding and More: Breakdown of Agradaa’s judgement
Details of the full judgement sighted by GhanaWeb show the charges that were levelled against Nana Agradaa, the ones she was found guilty of, and the number of years she is supposed to serve for each of the crimes she was convicted of.
Charges against Nana Agradaa:
The full judgement of the court, which was presided over by Justice Evelyn Amoah, showed that Nana Agradaa was slapped with five criminal charges.
The charges are:
Count 1 – Charlatanic advertisement, contrary to section 137(1) of the Criminal Offences and Other Act, 1960, Act 29
Count 2 – Defrauding by false pretence, contrary to section 131(1) of Act 29.
Count 3 – Defrauding by false pretence, contrary to section 131(1) of Act 29.
Count 4 – Defrauding by false pretence, contrary to section 131(1) of Act 29.
Count 5 – Defrauding by false pretence, contrary to section 131(1) of Act 29.
The Founder and Leader of Heaven Way Church pleaded not guilty to all five charges.
Details of the allegation and amount of money involved:
The document also showed the allegation against Nana Agradaa which led to her prosecution by the state. Agradaa was accused of defrauding some of her church attendees during an all-night service and publishing videos on social media with intent to deceive the public, which she denied.
One of the prosecution witnesses, who was a member of Agradaa’s church, narrated how she tricked them by promising to double the contributions they made in 2022.
He said that she promised to give GH¢50,000 and GH¢40,000 to a group of 20 people who contributed GH¢1,000 and GH¢900 respectively during the all-night services.
He also said that after contributing GH¢540 to his group to raise the GH¢1,000, Agradaa refused to give them the GH¢50,000, saying that the contributions were meant for a ‘Kofi and Ama collection’.
He also narrated how the Founder of Heaven Way Church allegedly promised to double GH¢2,000 of her congregants, but after receiving the money, she released thugs on them after they demanded their money back.
Prison terms for each of the charges:
The court found Agradaa guilty of three of the five charges against her, namely Count 1, Count 2, and Count 3.
“In this case, on the totality of the evidence on record, the court finds that the accused published the videos with the intent to deceive the public, made false representations to the complainants, and successfully defrauded them.
“She is hereby convicted of Counts 1, 2, and 3. Prosecution did not lead any evidence regarding Counts 4 and 5. Although the said complainants filed witness statements, they did not come to testify. Consequently, she is acquitted of Counts 4 and 5,” parts of the court document read.
The sentence for Count 1 was 25 penalty units or, in default, 30 days.
That of Count 2 was 15 years’ imprisonment with hard labour.
Count 3 also attracted a 15 years’ imprisonment with hard labour.
Nana Agradaa will be serving the three sentences concurrently.
Read the full document below:
