Give Bishop Kanco Stiffer Sentence – Attorney General

As the presiding Bishop of the Vineyard International Ministry, Bishop Vaglas Kanco, is seeking bail at the Fast Track High Court, pending an appeal against his conviction.

The Attorney-General’s Department, however, is also in court again to request for the enhancement of the eighteen months sentence handed down the ‘man of God’ by the Circuit Court’.

The state prosecutor has filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal to challenge the bail term given to Bishop Kanco, who was found guilty of defrauding a British woman of an amount of £120,000 and to request the court to enhance the sentence.

According to the Attorney General’s Department, the charge preferred against the convict is a second degree felony, which attracts at least 3 years imprisonment, noting that the 18 months jail term slapped on thy Presiding Bishop was too lenient.

Additionally, the state prosecutors noted that there was no time limit provided by the circuit court to the convict, Vaglas Kanco, to refund the money he took from the British lady.

Meanwhile, the High Court, presided over by Justice Charles Quist, has ordered the Registrar of the Circuit Court to transmit to the High Court all the records of proceedings involving the case, to enable it adjudicate the bail application brought by the convicted "Man of God".

Bishop Kanco was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for defrauding Ms. Clove Sutherland, the British Lady, of an amount of £120,000.

Additionally, the ‘Man of God’ was ordered to refund the said money, and to read Psalm 51, while serving his jail term in prison.

Bishop Vaglas Kanco was convicted after the court found him guilty on the charge of defrauding by false pretence after convincing Ms. Sutherland 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 lover and business partner.

According to the court, evidence adduced by the prosecution indicated that Bishop Kanco had met one-on-one with Ms. Sutherland in London, where he was a guest preacher at a crusade organised by the Alive Chapel International, adding that the 'man of God' actually knew about the cheque before returning to Ghana.

It was the view of the court that Bishop Kanco had the cheque by deceiving Ms. Sutherland that he was going to exorcise it from demonic attack by her ex-lover, and return the cheque on the next crusade date in June 2003.

Additionally, evidence before the court showed that Bishop Kanco caused Ms. Sutherland, who is a legal practitioner, to re-issue the cheque in his name, to prevent her occultist boyfriend from killing her.

The court, therefore, questioned why a new cheque should be issued, as it noted that Bishop Kanco intended not to return the cheque.

“The accused person intended to defraud the complainant, and took advantage of the complainant’s emotional trauma as a result of the breakdown of her amorous relationship,” the court emphasised, as it rejected Bishop Kanco’s defense that the £120,000 was a gift.

The court also noted a letter written by Ms. Sutherlands’ lawyers to Bishop Kanco, requesting that he returns the money yielded no results. It was the view of the court that the cheque was to be prayed over and returned, however, Bishop Kanco became incommunicado after he failed to attend the June 2003 crusade, where he was expected to return the cheque.

According to Bishop Kanco, the cheque was among several others that he was blessed with, and therefore, it was not his intention to return it, since nobody had asked for it.

Bishop Kanco came into contact with Ms. Sutherland during a crusade in London, where she latter requested for intensive prayers to exorcise the evil and demonic spirits fighting her through her former boyfriend, whom she had issued a cheque of £120,000 as share in a company, but had rejected it because the money was not up to the amount required.

Bishop Kanco then convinced Ms. Sutherland, who instructed her lawyers, Parker Arrenberg and Co., to re-issue the cheque in the name of the 'Man of God', as he promised never to cash it, but to return the cheque during the June/July 2003 crusade in London.

However, Bishop Kanco did not attend the crusade, and never returned the cheque, but it was later noticed that the cheque had been cashed. “He told me that my former partner was evil and dangerous, and that he was going to kill me. He (the Bishop) said he would save my life through persuasive prayers, Ms. Sutherland noted in her evidence before the court.

After she could not reach Bishop Kanco on the telephone number he had provided, she then checked to ascertain the status of the cheque, which revealed that the Bishop had withdrawn the money at the Makola branch of the Barclays Bank on May 19, 2003.

Several attempts, through distinguished pastors, including the General Overseer of the Alive Chapel International, Bishop Elisha Salifu Amoako, in her bid to reclaim her money did not yield any positive results.