Herbalist In Court For Defrauding A Client Of GHȼ85,000

A self-styled herbalist, Jibril Musah, is standing trial at the Nsuaem/Kyekyewere Circuit Court for allegedly defrauding a trader, Mary Oppong, of GHȼ85,000 under false pretence.

Musah, popularly known as Alhaji, is reported to have defrauded the 49-year-old woman with whom he lives in the same community at Assin Ngyiresi under the guise of retrieving a hidden family treasure for her.

He has been charged with defrauding by false pretence contrary to session 131 of the Criminal Code 1960 (Act 29).

According to the police prosecutor, Chief Inspector Gilbert Anyongo, Mary Oppong, the complainant, sent her mother to Alhaji for treatment. After that, he allegedly initiated the healing process.

In the course of the healing in November 2021, Alhaji is said to have claimed to see in the spiritual realm that the late father of the complainant had hidden a treasure (gold) on a land at Assin Ochiso and that it required the performance of certain rituals for retrieval.

Alhaji allegedly gave a mobile phone number claiming it was for the famed sea goddess “Maame Water”. Subsequently, it made cash demands to enable him to procure items needed for the rituals to uncover the hidden gold.

Mary Oppong, in turn, is said to have informed her family members to contribute to the process, instructing that family members who failed to contribute stood no chance of benefiting from the loot once it materialised. Contributions yielded GHȼ85,000.

However, Alhaji vanished without delivering the said gold treasure upon receiving the money.

Mary Oppong, who came under intense pressure from family members who contributed the money, then lodged a complaint with the police.

After several months of police investigation, Alhaji was arrested, charged and sent to the Nsuaem/Kyekyewere Circuit Court for trial.

The court presided over by Her Honour Dorinda Smith Arthur, remanded Alhaji to police custody to reappear on July 13, 2023, after he pleaded not guilty to the charge.