The founder and general overseer of the Zoe Outreach Embassy Church, along with his wife, have been granted GH$23 million bail by the High Court in an alleged fraud and money laundering prosecution.
Together with his wife, Sabina Elson Godson, Pastor Kelvin Elson Godson, also known as Kelvin Kwasi Kobiri, has been charged with 40 counts of conspiring to defraud by false pretense and one count of money laundering. Their church has locations around Accra and Tarkwa.
Pastor and Mrs. Godson are required to provide three sureties each, one of which must be supported by documentation of a landed holding for each of the accused.
The Zoe Church Pastor and his wife were also directed by Her Ladyship Mary Yamzuh, who was presiding, to report monthly to the Economic Crime Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
According to Dorm Esi Fiadzo, an assistant state attorney, the accused individuals were detained on April 18, 2019, as a result of complaints from about 875 people, primarily churchgoers.
However, she claimed that they had been given police investigation bail.
The majority of the 875 complainants are members of the first accused person’s church in Accra and Tarkwa and its surrounding areas in the Western Region.
Pastor Kelvin Elson Godson, also known as Kelvin Kwasi Kobiri, is the founder and general overseer of the Zoe Outreach Embassy Church, which has locations in Tarkwa and Accra. He is the first accuser.
The second defendant, Sabina Elson Godson, is the first defendant’s wife, and the two of them are the company’s proprietors.
The first defendant is also the owner of Fromfrom Capital Limited, a business he purchased from its founders and registered in the names of his staff members, who are holding it on his behalf.
The first accused person made clear to his church’s members and the general public at the beginning of 2018 that he was running a “Lease buy back” scheme in which he would sell them land plots and other landed properties, have the money invested in his investment company, and then later buy them back at higher prices.
From April 2018, the first accused began receiving money from people in his church and from the general public under the pretense of selling them land and properties and then later buying them back.
The first accused asked the complainants to deposit varying amounts of money into various bank accounts. Then, the accused allegedly created bogus documents that purported to cover several lands and sent the complainants those documents.
The accused claim that Tikowrie Capital Limited, Fine Fort Capital Limited, Top FX, and Edge FX invested the proceeds from the sale of the land in the world financial market.
According to the investigations, the accused people told the complainants they would sell them land plots and other landed properties, invest the money, and then later buy the land back at a higher price.
Investigations showed that EL Real Estate Limited, a business with a primary registration for the sale of lands and other landed property, had instead gone into offering financial and investing services without obtaining a license from the SEC.
Additionally, Fine Fort Capital Limited lacks the necessary licenses to operate fund management or investment firm. However, Tikowire Capital Limited and Fromfrom Capital Limited are registered to conduct investment and fund management business.
In total, 875 people made the following investments with the aforementioned businesses totaling GHS 23,773,950.00: With EL Real Estates Limited, 784 investors contributed a total of GHS 19,288,950.00; Tikowrie Capital Limited, 79 investors contributed a total of GHS 4,208,500.00; and Fromfrom Capital Limited, 12 investors contributed a total of GHS 275,500.
The suit will now be heard on September 5, 2022.
