Accra, Ghana; last week, 1/18/2023

Various incarnations of Ponzi schemes are not unique to America or guys like Bernie Madoff.  Many experts have told Trinity Foundation that there is more money stolen in the name of God than any other way.

After having been found guilty of 173 counts of conspiracy to commit a crime and defrauding by false pretenses, Reverend Edward Buabeng, a Ghanian pastor and overseer of Liberty Vineyard International Ministries, was sentenced to a total of 519 years—consisting mostly of 8-year terms to be served simultaneously.

The case came to its conclusion after a three-year trial, in which 12 witnesses from over 100 defrauded victims were called to testify against the accused persons.

The main complainants, John and Brenda, were promised a 40% rate of return every three months and invested an equivalent amount of US $13,000 (roughly ₵161,403.02 in Ghanian Cedi currency) into the convict’s company, Career Link Marketers Company Limited.  The legal process began when the couple were unable to collect any money back from the pastor and reported Rev. Buabeng to the police.

Overall, Reverend Buabeng received the sum of GH₵ 2 million according to one article (as of this article $162,601.60 US dollars).  He didn’t deny the allegations against him and initially told police he would refund the money.  Yet he reportedly went into hiding after failing to return the money and was eventually re-arrested, leading to his trial.

The old cliché attributed to Michael Douglas still stands—” If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.”

This article relied on the following three African news sources: Melanin News, How Africa News and Ghana Web.