Self-styled spiritualist arrested for fraud

A 30-year-old self-styled spiritualist and his two accomplices are in the grip of the Agona Swedru Police for defrauding their client on the pretext of bestowing him with money after they had performed some rituals.

The suspects, Raymond Owusu, popularly referred to as Nana Nzema, Maxwell Bansah,21, and Francis Afful,26, were arrested by the police at their shrine at Wawase, a suburb of Agona Swedru, last Monday after an official complaint.

Nana Nzema had defrauded one Leslie Johnson Adams, a native of Sogakope in the Volta Region, to the tune of GH¢2,800.

Adams had sought the services of Nana Nzema for rituals to be performed so that his money could be increased by Nzema to an amount of GH¢100,000.

First visit

Adams had come to Nana Nzema after he had watched him perform his money doubling ‘miracles’ on television in June this year.

After paying a consultation fee and other expenses totalling GH¢1,100, the complainant was given a sack containing dried plantain leaves and told not to open it until he got home and poured Juda oil on it.

Later on, Adams called Nana Nzema to inform him of his inability to get that particular brand of oil to be sprinkled on the bag before he opened it.

Nana Nzema then told him to send an additional GH¢1,000 via mobile money to him to buy the oil for him.

In his desperation, the complainant added GH¢700 to the amount Nana Nzema had requested so he could fast track the process since he needed the oil badly to sprinkle on the bag to complete the ritual process.

Phone off

On receiving the last payment from Adams, Nana Nzema switched off his phone, thus making it impossible for the complainant to get in touch with him and to even enquire about the oil he had been promised.

After several attempts to get in touch with Nana Nzema on the phone proved futile, Adams was compelled to open the bag only to find that it contained dried plantain leaves.

A source at the Swedru Divisional Police Station told the Daily Graphic yesterday that Adams lodged an official complaint with the station to the effect that in June of this year, Nana Nzema and his accomplices had collected an amount of GH¢2,800 from him on the pretext of giving him an amount of GH¢100,000.

The source said the spiritualist had handed over a bag to the complainant and told him not to open it until some rituals had been performed, to which the complainant obliged.

He said the complainant opened the bag after a long wait and found that it contained dried plantain leaves.

The source said the police quickly moved to the spiritualist’s shrine, arrested him together with his accomplices and placed them in custody to assist with investigations.

According to the source, following a search of the shrine by a police team, it retrieved 15 bags containing dried plantain leaves as well as other bags containing papers cut into the sizes of Ghana cedi notes. The retrieved items are suspected to be used to trick people who called on the shrine for consultations.

The source added that the suspects would be arraigned on the charge of defrauding by false pretences.