A spiritualist, who demanded various sums of money and items, including a monkey and a five-legged fowl from his victim but failed to multiply his money as promised, has been remanded in prison custody for defrauding by false pretences.
The Odumase Krobo Circuit Court remanded Torgbe Xetoe Wise, in custody for defrauding Solomon Sarkodie, a driver, to the tune of over GHC150,000.00.
Wise, who the prosecution described as a confidence trickster, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
He is to re-appear on September 28, 2016 for hearing.
According to the prosecution, Wise succeeded in taking a cow, pig, car, sheep and drinks from Sarkodie.
The court, presided over by Mr Frank Yao Gbeddy, ordered the police to keep Wise in the Akuse Prison until all the exhibits in the case have been given to the investigator.
The facts of the case as presented by the prosecutor, ASP Richmond Akwasi Yeboah, were that Wise was a fetish priest resident at Natriku, a suburb of Akuse, while Sarkodie lived in Dubai but was on holiday to visit his family.
ASP Yeboah said in December, last year, Sarkodie’s friend, one Prince, led him to Wise’s shrine at Akuse.
According to the prosecutor, during their discussions, Wise promised to help Sarkodie to get whatever he wanted be it money or power since he could also double any amount of money through his magical powers.
The prosecutor said Wise then demanded GHC100 from Sarkodie as consultation fee which Sarkodie promptly paid.
ASP Yeboah said after the payment of the fee, Wise also demanded a monkey, sheep, cow, pig, Kalahari bitters, akpeteshie and schnapps to perform some rituals in addition to a cash of GHC150,000 from Sarkodie.
The prosecutor said Sarkodie, who desperately wanted his money doubled, sold his car and gave the money to Wise who promised to triple it to GH¢450,000.
ASP Yeboah said Wise demanded a car since it was dangerous to travel on public transport with such a huge amount in a bag.
He said Sarkodie therefore, went for his brother’s car and handed it over to Wise.
ASP Yeboah said Wise again asked Sarkodie to buy a metal trunk and a bag for him (Wise) for the items and promised to fill both the bag and the trunk with the tripled cash.
He said Sarkodie fulfilled the demands after which Wise instructed Sarkodie to move to a hotel with the trunk and bag, warning Sarkodie that “Evil spirits may spoil the power given to you and the money may not triple if you do not comply with the instruction.”
ASP Yeboah said Sarkodie was further instructed not to open the trunk and the bag till after 15 days.
ASP Yeboah also told the court that Wise also collected Sarkodie’s passport and driving license to fortify them for spiritual protection.
The prosecutor said Sarkodie complied with the instructions but surprisingly when he opened the trunk and the bag the only thing he saw inside was a snake.
Sarkodie returned the trunk and the bag plus the snake to Wise but Wise blamed Sarkodie for not following the instructions.
The prosecutor said in order to pacify the gods on behalf of Sarkodie, Wise again demanded a cow and a fowl with five legs and Sarkodie provided the cow but could not get the fowl and that was when Sarkodie became suspicious of Wise and consequently reported him to the police.
The prosecutor said after the complaint, the police proceeded to Wise’s shrine but on seeing them Wise ran away. The police, however, arrested his elder brother and retrieved the car from the shrine and impounded it for further investigation.
The prosecutor said Wise was arrested at his hide-out on July 21, 2016 and during investigation he admitted charging Sarkodie GHC15,000 but collected only GHC5,200 from Sarkodie and explained that Sarkodie consulted him for powers to enable him (Sarkodie) to easily obtain a visa whenever he applied for it.
Wise also admitted having in his possession the complainant’s passport but failed to release same to the police.
The prosecutor said the police have since retrieved the cow, pig and Sarkodie’s wallet from Wise.
-adomonline