An Accra Circuit Court has remanded two media personnel, Bilyaminu Ibrahim and Mohammed Musah, in connection with an alleged GH¢800,000 spiritual fraud. The two men were charged with conspiracy to commit crime and defrauding by false pretence, respectively. According to the prosecution, Ibrahim posed as a spiritualist and collected money from a US-based Ghanaian woman, Tourwana Katakarauo, over several years, claiming to avert spiritual attacks.
The alleged victim, Tourwana, was reportedly encountering difficulties abroad, and a man named Katakaraou Jabiru, together with Ibrahim, hatched a plan to extract money from her under false pretences. Jabiru told Tourwana's sister, Fawuziya Issaka, that he knew a spiritualist capable of resolving Tourwana's problems, at which point Ibrahim assumed that role. The pair began collecting payments from Tourwana in instalments, telling her the funds were necessary for sacrifices and spiritual rituals to ward off attacks against her and her mother.
The alleged deception escalated further when Ibrahim and Jabiru told Tourwana that her late father had owed a debt to an unknown individual who now intended to spiritually harm her. This prompted additional payments, purportedly for Quran recitals and other protective activities. In 2023, when Jabiru heard that Tourwana's mother had suffered a stroke, he allegedly told Ibrahim this was evidence of a fresh spiritual threat, and more money was collected to redirect the supposed attack back to its "sender".
During police investigations, Ibrahim allegedly admitted to posing as a spiritualist, and officers recovered GH¢49,000 from him at the time of his arrest. Jabiru allegedly fled to Togo upon learning of Ibrahim's arrest but returned to Dodowa in September 2026, where he stayed with Ibrahim and Musah. Musah has denied the harbouring charge, but admitted in his statement that he sent a text message to Jabiru to prevent him from being arrested.
The matter was eventually brought before family elders but remained unresolved, leading Fawuziya to file a police complaint. Ibrahim and Musah are due to reappear before the court, presided over by Mr Joseph Kunsong, on 20 October 2026. The two men are facing criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit crime and defrauding by false pretence.
In a related development, a Nigerian national, Joseph James Nantomah, was sentenced to four years in prison for swindling more than $2.7 million from dozens of victims across the United States and abroad. Nantomah was sentenced on September 18, 2026, by United States District Judge Lynn Adelman in the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
The case highlights the growing trend of spiritual fraud in Ghana, with many individuals falling victim to fake spiritualists and scammers. The Ghanaian authorities have urged citizens to be cautious and report any suspicious activities to the police. The case is ongoing, and the court is expected to deliver its verdict in due course.
Key points
- - Two Ghanaian media personnel, Bilyaminu Ibrahim and Mohammed Musah, have been arrested for allegedly defrauding a US-based Ghanaian woman of GH¢800,000 under the guise of spiritual protection. - The alleged victim, Tourwana Katakarauo, was reportedly targeted by the duo, who posed as spiritualists and collected money from her over several years. - A third suspect, Jabiru, remains at large after allegedly fleeing to Togo following Ibrahim's arrest.
