I know nothing of GHC11.6m gold fraud - Obinim

Bishop Daniel Obinim has said he knows nothing about an alleged GHS11.6 million gold fraud levelled against him by a complainant.

The founder of the International God’s Way Church, who spent Tuesday night in the cells of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service at the headquarters of the law enforcement agency in Accra, was transferred to the Nima Police Station on Wednesday morning where hundreds of his church members massed up to demand his release.

Lawyer for the controversial cleric, Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, told Chief Jerry Forson on Accra100.5FM’s breakfast show Ghana Yensom on Wednesday 23 August in an interview that his client has denied defrauding the complainant in question by false pretence as alleged against his.

Mr Obinim was reported to the CID by the complainant, who parted with the said amount to the man of God for spiritual assistance but to no avail, thus, his arrest.

Meanwhile, Bishop Obinim and one of his associates have also been charged with assault.

He was reported to the Domestic Violence and Victims’ Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service after a video went viral on social media showing him flogging two teen lovers in church with a belt for fornicating.

ClassFMonline.com has learnt that Bishop Obinim and his associate will answer to charges of physical and verbal assault of the teen lovers after investigations into the fraud case.

In the said video, Bishop Obinim was captured whipping the two lovers – his adopted children – for having sex with each other and attempting to abort a pregnancy. Not even the intervention of his wife could stop him from meting out the corporal punishment to the teenagers.

He was widely condemned on social media as well as by human rights activists. The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection reported him to DOVVSU over the matter. A human rights lawyer, Mr Francis Xavier-Sosu, also sued Bishop Obinim over the issue.