Former traditional priestess turned evangelist, Patricia Asiedua Asiamah, popularly known as Nana Agradaa, was on Thursday (July 3, 2025) sentenced to 15 years imprisonment hard labour by an Accra Circuit Court following her conviction on multiple charges of charlatanic advertisement and defrauding by false pretence.
The conviction relates to a widely circulated 2022 televised broadcast on her Today-TV channel (television) and on social media, during which she claimed to possess spiritual powers to “double money” for anyone who brought cash offerings to her church, the Heaven Way Champion International Ministry located at Weija in Accra.
In all, she was found guilty on one count of charlatanic advertisement and five counts of defrauding by false pretence.
According to court documents, Nana Agradaa used her media platforms to invite the public to attend an all-night service, promising that any money given would be supernaturally multiplied by her.
The prosecution stated that “the accused successfully demanded and received huge sums of money from some members of the public who attended the said all-night service including complainants in this matter.”
At least six individuals formally lodged complaints, although prosecutors believe that over a thousand people were defrauded during the single church event. The victims travelled from across the country, lured by the televised promises of miraculous financial gains which never materialised.
Further investigations revealed that Nana Agradaa carried out the scheme in concert with unnamed accomplices. The court found that her actions were part of a well-orchestrated fraud exploiting the faith and desperation of her followers.
Before the sentencing could be finalised, the court ordered a mandatory pregnancy test in accordance with Ghanaian legal procedures for female convicts.
The test confirmed that Nana Agradaa was not pregnant, allowing the court to proceed with sentencing her to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour.
The ruling is being hailed as a significant step in the fight against religious fraud and charlatanic practices in Ghana. It also sends a strong message about the state’s readiness to protect vulnerable citizens from predatory schemes disguised as spiritual intervention.
Prosecution’s facts
Per the facts of the case, on October 10, 2022, the complainants in the case reported to the police that Nana Agradaa demanded and received sums of money from them under the pretext of giving them various sums of monies in return.
Upon the receipt of the report, police commenced investigations into the matter, which led to the arrest of Agradaa.
The prosecution said investigations established that on October 5, 2022, she advertised on Today's TV and other social media platforms that she was organising an all-night service on October 7, 2022 at Heaven Way Champions International Ministry where she was going to share an amount of GH¢300,000 to all participants who needed money to fund their business or pay rent.
“Convict displayed the bundles of money during the advert and encouraged members of the public to attend the service for a share of the money.
“Investigations also established that due to the said false representation made in the adverts on media platforms, complainants and other members of the public came from far and near to attend the said all night service,” ASP Emmanuel Haligah said.
He added that, during the all-night service, Agradaa directed the congregation to form groups of 20 members and each member was to pay an amount of money starting from GH¢1000 and below.
The convict is said to have made the representation that if the first group of 20 could each pay GH¢1000 each, she would give them GH¢50,000 to share.
She continued in that fashion and promised the next group to pay GH¢900 saying which of them would get a sum of GH¢40,000 and so on.
Agradaa, according to the prosecution, represented to them that she would give those in the group of 19 a sum of GH¢25,000 to share in their group of 19 persons.
“Based upon this representation, the complainants parted with various sums of money.
“Agradaa after obtaining the monies did not fulfill her promise to give them the sums of money in return and rather left them in the church premises stranded,” the prosecutor added.
Further investigations established that Agradaa undertook the charlatanic advertisement with intent to defraud unsuspecting complainants.
