Private legal practitioner, lawyer Tachie Antiedu, has opined that the alleged money doubling scam brought against Patricia Asiedua, aka Agradaa, should serve as an opportunity for authorities to deal with cases of fraud perpetuated by religious leaders in the name of God.
The lawyer said we have witnessed one too many of such cases and it was about time we put in place measures and policies to regulate our churches, mosques and other religious activities.
He noted that some people are fraudulently using the name of God to extort money from people.
Touching on the Agradaa’s saga, he said the self-acclaimed prophet advertised to double money for people and that was why they responded.
However, she later introduced conditions during service which was not part of her advertisement on television.
The lawyer explained that this can best be described as defrauding by false pretence and the former traditional priest could face the law.
Lawyer Tachie Antiedu said “the advert was clear that you were prepared to share money for the people. The advert did not explain that there would be an offering before the money was shared. This means that you had the intention to defraud by false pretence. It is unfortunate the affected victims went to the church and gave out their money to her. But the so-called woman of God lured them and they acted based on the fact that you promised to give them money”.
He went on to state that there was a breach of the law and the Poluce must prove the matter and bring the matter to it’s logical conclusion.
“This was the time for us to break into the churches, the mosques, the shrines and ensure that the evil and criminal acts that have creeped into our religious practices are dealt with. Some bad nuts are using the name of God to defraud people. We need to get serious on these things.
Others are even encouraging people to engage in rituals and promising them wealth through blood sacrifices. We have a duty as a nation to deal with these issues. They are gullible people who lack the knowledge and are ignorant to identity these scams and criminal activities. But we have a duty to deal with such criminal acts to preserve and protect our youth from these individuals.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
