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PROPHET DANIEL Yaw Nkansah, leader and founder of the New Vision Party (NVP), a political party that only exists on paper, has been in the news for the very wrong reasons since he made his entry onto the country�s political scene in 2008. Even before his recent alleged attempted bribery of senior official of the Electoral Commission (EC), the self-styled man of God had been declared wanted by an Accra circuit court for swindling an Accra-based trader. Prophet Nkansah has been involved in a series of wrongdoings, with the police finding it difficult to arrest him. The prophet, who is noted for his shady antics, is described as a �serial fraudster� by some people who have had an encounter with him. He has been slapped with several criminal cases in several police stations across the country, yet has remained mostly evasive. Prophet Nkansah is noted for his dramatic escapades with law enforcement agencies where he has slipped through several of their arrest nets. For years, he has been published in the police gazette as a wanted man for several fraudulent deals. In 2009, an Accra-based auto distribution company reported the self-styled man of God to the police, claiming that the middle-aged cleric had swindled it. Prophet Nkansah allegedly bought a pick-up vehicle from the auto dealer for his political campaign but failed to honour his part of the bargain. He later abandoned the car with an excuse that the car was faulty and that he was no longer interested in buying it. This was after he had driven the pick-up truck on gratis for several days. On Monday, October 25, 2010, Prophet Nkansah was reported to have jumped over a fence wall to outwit police who had been detailed to arrest him. The Odorkor Police in Accra, on Friday, October 29, 2010, stormed the house of the alleged fraudster to arrest him but he again outwitted them and escaped, leaving more than 10 policemen dumbfounded. This was not the first time he had outsmarted police officers. In one instance, the Odorkor police trailed him and tried to arrest him for using the name of late President Evans Atta Mills to defraud unsuspecting victims. The police eventually smoked him out from his hideout- a bedroom ceiling- and arrested him. Soiled Reputation According to Ampadu Boateng, On Monday, October 18, 2010, he witnessed his brother- Kofi Amponfi, signing an agreement with Prophet Nkansah for the purchase of two KIA Avella saloon cars valued at GH�7000 each. Boateng told DAILY GUIDE that his brother gave him an amount of GH�5000 as deposit which he handed over to Prophet Nkansah, after he had promised that the cars would arrive in the country by October 20, that same year . They were led to believe the elusive cleric when he showed them letters printed on presidential letter heads, supposedly signed by the late President Mills. According to Ampadu Boateng, the prophet reneged on his promise to deliver the cars, as per the agreement. When he was confronted, he simply told the agitated Boateng and his brother, �Do you know how many responsible wealthy people I have duped of colossal amount? Forget about your GH�5000 which I only used to buy pure water.� However, when Prophet Nkansah was contacted, he denied trying to swindle the stranded brothers. �I told them that I do not have time so I instructed one Mallam who is a car dealer to go with Amponfi to Togo to buy the car,� he said. Prophet Nkansah also maintained that when they were returning from Togo, officers of the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) impounded the cars. On March 15, 2012, after an Accra Circuit Court granted him bail in a fraud case, he was re-arrested in connection with another fraud case in which he defrauded another person of an amount of GH�6000, being payment for the purchase of another vehicle. The amount has been outstanding since November 2011. DSP Francis Baah, Head of the Documentation and Visa Fraud Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), told DAILY GUIDE that Prophet Nkansah took the said amount but failed to buy the car. Even though he had not bought the car, he told the complainant that he had already purchased the car and the delays were due to the long registration process at the Drivers and Vehicle License Authority (DVLA). He then asked the complainant to meet an official of the DVLA to pay GH�500 as processing fees for the registration. The complainant complied, only for the police to find out later that the supposed DVLA operative was the biological son of Prophet Nkansah. Again, the police mounted a manhunt for the slippery prophet, but he managed to escape. Wardrobe Escape He was reported to have hidden in his wardrobe when police from the Ministries Police Station stormed his house to arrest him. In May 2010, Prophet Nkansah was again nabbed over an alleged Visa fraud, after a businesswoman, Comfort Opoku, lodged a complaint against him. Prophet Nkansah had allegedly collected an amount of $4000 as part payment of $10,000 to secure Mrs. Opoku a five-year US multiple entry Visa; characteristically, he failed to deliver. A bench warrant was consequently issued by a Kumasi Circuit Court for his arrest. Prophet Nkansah was said to have told Ms Opoku and several other people that his party and church members were travelling to the US through protocol arrangement under the auspices of the Foreign Affairs Ministry. A source indicated that on May 19, 2010, Prophet Nkansah took Ms Opoku to the US Embassy for the said Visa. Party Visa However, unknown to the victim, her name had been presented to the American authorities as the New Vision Party�s co-ordinator. She was interviewed in that respect but was denied the Visa since she could not convince the consular about her status as a party official. After several weeks of what appeared to be a wild goose chase, the victim decided to withdraw from the supposed party tour. Nevertheless, when she suggested her withdrawal from the said party tour and demanded her money, Prophet Nkansah kept urging her to exercise patience as everything was in the right direction. After this debacle, Comfort Opoku became convinced that the prophet was a fraudster and intensified her demand for her money. Her persistent request for a refund provoked the cleric-turned-politician who became even more resolved not to honour the refund. Matters degenerated between the two, consequently forcing her to report the case to the Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID). An investigation was consequently mounted, leading to the prophet�s subsequent arrest. Bench Warrant As if that was not enough, he is battling a case in which the Circuit Court in Accra has issued a bench warrant for his arrest, for allegedly defrauding a female trader of GH�19,000. The prophet had allegedly convinced Aisha Nurudeen to give him the said amount, being part of a loan she took from Stanbic Bank, for safe keeping till she was ready to do business with it. However, when she attempted to retrieve her money, the prophet refused to part with the money. Although the case has been pending before the Circuit Court for over a year now, the accused person, who has only refunded GH�4,000, has been dodging the court. On Tuesday, October 2, 2012, the accused was to appear before the court presided over by Mrs. Adwoa Coleman, to answer charges of the fraudulent breach of trust. The cunning preacher again tried his antics to dodge justice. He allegedly presented a medical report seeking to excuse him from appearing in court, but the court rejected it and issued a bench warrant for his arrest. While the police were looking for him, he was busy preparing for a presidential bid in 2012 presidential race. He was incidentally disqualified by the Electoral Commission (EC). However, this time, he ironically succeeded in framing two EC officials, Isaac Kofi Asumaning, Director of Elections, and his colleague and Director in charge of Logistics, Emmanuel Asante Kissi, for allegedly demanding a bribe of GH�10,000 from him as a prerequisite for an EC endorsement for the presidential bid. He reportedly gave an initial amount of GH�1,600 as bribe to facilitate his registration but failed to do so. He was invited by the CID Headquarters and granted police enquiry bail to assist in investigation over the bribery scandal; so currently, in an ironic twist of fate, Prophet Nkansah is reportedly assisting the police to nail officials cited for fraudulent conducts.