By Beatrice Oppon & Priscilla Owusu Ansah
A Circuit Court in Accra has sentenced Pastor Hammond Love, popularly known as Pastor Love, to 48 months in prison with hard labour for stealing.
Pastor Love, former husband of gospel musician Obaapa Christie, was found guilty of the offence after seven years of trial. Before he was sentenced, a downcast Pastor Love pleaded with the Court for mercy, adding that he was willing to pay any fine that would be imposed on him.
The Judge, Isaac Addo, took into consideration the fact that convicted Pastor Love is a first-time offender. He, however, held that as a Pastor, he is expected to hold a high level of integrity, especially in matters of trust, and therefore handed him the 48-month jail term as a fair deterrent.
The facts of the case as presented by ASP Frimpong was that in 2016 one Samuel Amankwah, a resident of the US, shipped a 4×4 vehicle into the country and tasked Pastor Love to clear it.
The convict cleared the said vehicle with his money, after which the complainant told him to sell it for 50 thousand dollars and deduct the amount he paid as duty. Later, the complainant told Pastor Love to hold on with the sale of the vehicle as he would travel into the country and refund his money.
In April 2017, the complainant arrived in the country and contacted Pastor Love for his vehicle, but he could not produce it upon several demands.
The complainant lodged a complaint with the Police and Pastor Love was arrested in May 2017.
During interrogation, convicted Pastor Love told the Police that he secured a loan of 40 thousand cedis with 20 percent interest to clear the vehicle and was accruing more interest, so he sold the vehicle at 80 thousand cedis without the consent of the owner and paid 70 thousand cedis to the loan company.
Meanwhile, Pastor Love was unable to lead the Police to the said loan company to verify the claim and could not also tell who bought the vehicle.
The Judge said the convict was dishonest to the Court.