A 25-year-old Head Pastor of the Jesus Strength Deliverance Ministry on the Spintex Road is facing fraud charges levelled against him by members of his Prayer Towers group. Prophet Samuel Blessing is in police custody for collecting amounts ranging from GH¢500 (¢5 million) to GH¢l,100 (¢11 million) from some members of his Prayer Towers group and other members of the congregation, with the promise of travelling with them to Germany within two weeks. However, since February 2006, the head pastor has failed to deliver on his promise, blaming the failure on a friend who he claims was supposed to procure the visas. Although the suspect claimed he had once travelled to Germany on an outreach programme, he alleged that his passport was with his sponsor in Germany until such time that he (Prophet) would be able to pay the cost of his trip to Germany. He was also alleged to have described the inside of an aircraft to his congregation, including how one had to put on the seat belt when one was on board, all in his bid to convince the congregation that he had indeed, travelled to Germany before. The Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, Mr David Asante-Apeatu, said in an interview with Daily Graphic’s Albert Salia on Wednesday that some time last year Prophet Blessing told his congregation that he was travelling to Germany at the invitation of a church to minister the Word of God to the congregation there. He said the prophet later called a church member on his land line to inform him that the church in Germany was happy with his work and had decided to invite the Prayer Towers, a prayer group within his church. Mr Asante-Apeatu said upon Prophet Blessing's return, he asked those who were interested in travelling with him to Germany to pay the money to facilitate the procurement of the visas. He said six members of the congregation who paid over GH¢4,600 (¢46 million) to the suspect later reported his conduct to the Visa and Documentation Fraud Unit of the CID for investigations. Prophet Blessing created laughter at the CID Headquarters on Wednesday when he described how the seat belt of an aircraft was worn when he said it was worn in an X-form across both shoulders and around the waist. Mr Asante-Apeatu advised Ghanaians to desist from using middlemen to secure visas or travel documents, since they could be defrauded. Source: Daily Graphic