Vaglas Kanco jailed

May 6, 2011 (Page 3 lead)

THE General Overseer of the Vineyard Chapel International, Bishop Vaglas Kanco, was yesterday sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment by the Accra Circuit Court for defrauding a British national to the tune of £120,000.
He was also ordered to refund the £120,000 he took from the complainant, Clova Sutherland.
Bishop Kanco had lured the complainant into believing that she would die if she did not allow him to pray over a £120,000 cheque she had issued in the name of her former partner.
“While in incarceration, read Psalm 51,” the trial judge, Mr D.E.K. Daketsey, advised Kanco while he was being handcuffed by a policeman at exactly 12.42 p.m. immediately after judgement had been passed.
Bishop Kanco managed to convince the complainant to re-issue the cheque in his name in order for him to pray over it to exorcise the evil intent of the complainant’s partner and return it to her on a later date, but he reneged on his promise and cashed the cheque after he had met the complainant at a crusade organised by the Alive Chapel International Church on March 25, 2003.
The convict was then a guest speaker at the crusade, and during his meeting with the complainant she told him the problems she was going through.
She also informed him that she was to pay £120,000 to her partner, whom Bishop Kanco described as an evil person.
The convict also made Clova to believe that she would die if she issued the cheque directly to her partner.
According to the court, it was abundantly clear from the evidence adduced by the prosecution that the convict took advantage of the emotional and psychological turmoil in which the complainant found herself as a result of the break-up of her 14-year-old relationship.
It held that the prosecution was able to prove the ingredient of the charge of defrauding by false pretence levelled against Kanco and further described Kanco’s defence that the money was a gift as “lame, limping and an unpardonable excuse”.
It further held that the prosecution was able to lead evidence to prove that the complainant’s partner rejected the £120,000 cheque on the grounds that the amount was short of £32,000 and for that reason it was impossible for the complainant to have issued the £120,000 cheque as a gift, especially at a time she was having financial, emotional and health problems.
It said it was on record that lawyers for the complainant’s partner had written letters demanding that she pay the £152,000 she owed her former partner.
“I am inclined to believe the story of the complainant that the accused person tricked her to re-issue the cheque in his name,” the judge intimated.
According to him, it was also clear from the record that the complainant had made several attempts to reclaim her money, while it was also on record that Kanco dispensed of the services of his lawyer, Mr Yonny Kulendi, when he (the lawyer) advised him (Kanco) to refund the £120,000.
“The court wants to send a strong signal to all those who, under the guise of religious Mumbo Jumbo, deceive unsuspecting persons. Society is now wide awake and the law has extended its hands in all human endeavours,” the judge held.
Kanco, who wore a batik shirt, looked fixedly at the trial judge as he read his judgement and at a point he could not sit when he was advised to do so after the judge had finished reading his judgement.
According to the trial judge, it was not in dispute that Kanco took possession of the cheque and cashed it. He also debunked claims by the convict that he did not know the content of the envelope which contained the cheque until he returned from London after a crusade.
The court asked why Kanco had not collected the first cheque which bore the name of the complainant’s alleged devilish partner to pray over it but rather chose to lure the complainant to re-issue the cheque in his name.
Earlier, counsel for the convict, Mr Kissi Agyabeng, had prayed the court to defer sentence and indicated that the complainant was interested in her money and not incarceration.
He, therefore, prayed the court to grant Kanco bail, adding that it was not strange for men of God to be given expensive gifts, including houses and cars.
However, a Chief State Attorney, Mr Rexford Wiredu, said it was improper for defence counsel to pray the court to arrest its judgement, adding that followers of the convict could contribute and indemnify the surety should the convict escape.
Mr Wiredu, therefore, prayed the court to give its judgement.