Pastor jailed 5 years for fraud

Friday, May 14, 2010 (Front Page)

A US-based Ghanaian pastor who defrauded the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) and a non-governmental organisation (NGO) to the tune of $50,000 was yesterday sentenced to five years; imprisonment with hard labour.
Victor Ocloo, a pastor of Open Heaven Church in the US, took the money from the complainants, the GAC and Life and Hope Foundation, a partner of the GAC, to supply pre-fabricated materials to establish a structure for HIV/AIDS patients but failed to do so.
Ocloo, who has since refunded GH¢15,000 of the amount, was also ordered by the court to refund $40,000 after he had been found guilty on two counts of defrauding by false pretence and issuing a false cheque.
The stout, middle-aged and fair-complexioned convict, who wore a pink and white striped shirt over a pair of khaki trousers, looked bewildered after his conviction.
He had claimed to be the sole distributor and representative of Thermal Steel Corporation, USA, and that he was in the position to supply the pre-fabricated materials to the complainants but his claims turned out to be false during the trial.
Before his sentence, the prosecutor had prayed the Fast Track High Court, presided over by Mr Justice Senyo Dzamefe, to defer the sentence for two weeks to enable the convict to raise the money.
The prosecutor had submitted that the complainants were interested in reclaiming their money, but another lawyer who had been invited by the judge to state his opinion on the matter, disagreed with his colleague.
According to the lawyer, who is also a former prosecutor, the complainants should have taken that into consideration before reporting the convict to the police in the first place, adding that it was unfortunate for the complainants to hold such a position after a full trial had taken place and judgement had been given.
Counsel for the convict did not take kindly to his colleague’s submissions and, to make matters worse, the prosecutor, after consulting with the complainants, had a change of mind and prayed the court to sentence the convict.
Passing sentence, the trial judge expressed his disappointment at the conduct of the convict, whom the court said should have acted like a true man of God.
The facts of the case were that in August 2008, Life and Hope Foundation, which worked in collaboration with the GAC and Bedrock Construction Company, paid $50,178 to the convict to supply it with pre-fabricated materials.
After the payment, which included the cost of the materials and their shipment, Ocloo showed several papers which stated that he had made payments to Thermal Steel Corporation, but the materials did not arrive on the date he had promised.
After several attempts to get the pre-fabricated materials had failed, the complainants demanded a refund of their money, which resulted in the convict issuing a cheque which was dishonoured by a bank.
The complainants lodged a complaint with the police, leading to Ocloo’s arrest in February 2009, after it had become clear that he was in no position to refund the money.