Patricia Asiedua, also known as Nana Agradaa, the repentant priestess and founder of Heaven Way Church, has been sentenced by an Accra Circuit Court to 15 years in prison with hard labour.
She was found guilty of charges involving charlatanic advertisement and defrauding by false pretence.
According to GBC Ghana online, Agradaa was arrested in October 2022 following numerous accusations of orchestrating a money-doubling scheme. Victims said she collected various amounts from them with promises to multiply their money, which she failed to fulfill.
According to court records, on October 5, 2022, Agradaa advertised on TV and social media that she would host an all-night service on October 7 at her church, promising to distribute GH¢300,000 to financially struggling attendees.
During the broadcast, she showed bundles of money and urged people to attend for their share.
The announcement attracted a massive crowd.
At the service, Agradaa told the attendees to form groups of 20, with each person contributing up to GH¢1,000.
She promised that the first group would receive GH¢50,000 to divide.
She made similar offers, requesting another group to pay GH¢900 each in return for GH¢40,000.
Relying on these promises, several attendees handed over different sums of money. However, after taking the cash, Agradaa allegedly locked the church doors and vanished.
Before sentencing, her counsel, Richard Asare Baffour, appealed to the court for leniency, proposing a non-custodial sentence.
He pointed out that Agradaa is a mother of five, with her eldest child being 24 and the youngest only three.
He argued that jail time would jeopardise her children’s futures, especially the eldest, who dreams of becoming a lawyer.
He further said Agradaa had shown remorse and cooperated with the judicial process since 2022, and had since moved away from the alleged conduct while maintaining a positive role in religious society.
But the prosecutor, ASP Emmanuel Haligah, rejected the plea for leniency, urging the court to impose a punishment that would serve as a deterrent to Agradaa and others engaged in similar fraudulent acts.
ASP Haligah stressed that Agradaa was not a first-time offender, recalling her 2021 conviction and GH¢10,000 fine, which he said did not prevent her from committing the same offence just a year later.
After hearing both arguments, the court sentenced her to 15 years in prison with hard labour.