Bishop Daniel Obinim
A Kaneshie Magistrate Court in Accra has adjourned the trial of Bishop Daniel Obinim, founder of the International God’s Way Church (IGWC), over alleged forgery of police document to November 16, 2020.
The prosecution led by Sergeant Amoah Richard prayed the court to adjourn the matter to allow them time to get some three other accused persons in the matter, who still at large.
He said the prosecution is working with the defence team who have promised they know the whereabouts of two of the accused persons and are working on getting the third person.
Dela Blagogee, counsel for Obinim and his accomplice Kwabena Okyere aka Kobby Fireman, in the alleged forgery of document case told the court that they have cooperated with the prosecution and are still looking for the third person who is at large.
He stated that once they get him, they will take the three to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters.
The court presided over by Magistrate Rosemond Agyiri adjourned the matter to November 16, 2020.
Trial
Bishop Obinim and Kwabena Okyere were separately put before a Kaneshie Magistrate Court in Accra, and both charged with publication of false news and forgery of document contrary to Section 159 (c) of 29, 1960.
The two, together with three others at large, are facing four counts of conspiracy to publish false news, conspiracy to forge other documents, publication of false news and forgery of documents.
The accused persons are alleged to have forged and published a police persons wanted form for the arrest of one Isaac Opoku, a resident of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
Case Facts
Bishop Obinim allegedly forged and published a police persons wanted form against a man in Kumasi without official endorsement.
The said wanted person form bearing the details of the supposed fugitive called Isaac Opoku, which according to court documents, was circulated on social media of certain individuals who are linked to Obinim, including Kwabena Okyere.
Obinim Deposit
The alleged forgery of police documents by Bishop Obinim, according to the prosecution, resulted from some GH¢51,280 he reportedly deposited in Isaac Opoku’s bank account.
According to court documents, Bishop Obinim transferred GH¢49,160 out of the amount into his Kaizer Bank account in Spain but it was later returned into Opoku’s bank account in Ghana.
Opoku then used the money, claiming he did so because of a promise Obinim made to him in front of his congregation to buy him a car.
It was the back-and-forth that followed efforts by Obinim to retrieve the money that led to the alleged forgery of the police document.
Key Suspect
Kwabena Okyere was then arrested by the police after it emerged that the alleged police persons wanted form appeared on his Facebook page under the name ‘Angel Obinim Ba Kobby Fireman.’
The complainant in the matter, according to court documents, made a follow-up on the publication at the Police Headquarters but was told that the police did not issue any such form.
The alleged forged publications were subsequently deleted by the owners of the Facebook pages but the complainant, according to the prosecution, had already taken screenshots of the page.
Kwabena Okyere is alleged to have gone into hiding until his arrest in Kumasi.
“A subsequent check on Facebook during interrogation of accused person revealed that the Facebook account ‘Angel Obinim Ba Kobby Fireman’ had been deleted,” the court document revealed.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak