Pastor charged for allegedly stealing from deceased after failed spiritual healing 

A 38-year-old pastor, Wisdom Kwame Adu, popularly known as “Agya,” has been arraigned before the Circuit Court in Accra for allegedly stealing from a deceased friend he had accompanied to Kumasi for spiritual healing.

The accused, standing trial before His Honour Jojo Amoah Hagan, pleaded not guilty to eleven counts of stealing.

He has been granted bail in the sum of GH¢150,000 with two sureties, one required to justify with landed property. The case has been adjourned to July 24, 2025.

The Allegations

According to the facts presented by ASP Issah Achibiri of the CID Homicide Unit, the deceased, Emmanuel Offei Awuku, was a close friend of the accused.

In April 2025, Emmanuel was admitted at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital but requested voluntary discharge. He later traveled with the accused to Kumasi on May 26, 2025, in his unregistered Range Rover for spiritual healing at the church of one Pastor Frank Asukwa, alias “Ohene.”

However, on June 5, 2025, Emmanuel reportedly died on the church premises during the spiritual intervention. The accused subsequently returned the deceased’s body and mobile phone to his family but allegedly withheld his unregistered Range Rover and Ecobank ATM card.

The complainant, Samuel Awuku Darko, brother of the deceased, began receiving suspicious bank alerts on Emmanuel’s phone on June 8, indicating a string of ATM withdrawals totaling GH¢27,000 made between June 8 and 10 in Kumasi and Accra. This prompted him to lodge a complaint with the CID Headquarters.

 

Arrest and Recovery

The accused was arrested on June 17, 2025, at his residence in Korleyman, near Medie, Accra. A search of the premises yielded GH¢35,356 and £40 in cash.

The court was informed that the postmortem examination on the deceased has yet to be conducted, and investigations are ongoing to determine the full circumstances surrounding Emmanuel’s death and the alleged theft.

Charges

Wisdom Kwame Adu faces 11 charges of stealing, including:

Dishonestly appropriating an unregistered Range Rover.

Withdrawing several sums — GH¢4,000 and GH¢1,000 — on multiple occasions from the deceased’s Ecobank account at various ATMs.

Possessing cash and property suspected to be proceeds from the theft.

If convicted, Pastor Adu faces the possibility of significant penalties under Ghanaian criminal law.

The body of the deceased remains in a private mortuary in Tinkong near Koforidua, awaiting autopsy results.

The next court hearing is set for July 25, 2025, as the investigation continues.

The post Pastor charged for allegedly stealing from deceased after failed spiritual healing  appeared first on The Ghanaian Chronicle.

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