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Due to a lack of evidence to support the claim that Emmanuel Oko Mensah stole his official car, the police have decided not to pursue him in court.
In a letter dated November 3, 2022, the Attorney-General stated, "Even though the suspect appropriated the vehicle, the appropriation was not dishonest."
After Lighthouse Chapel International filed criminal complaints against Bishop Oko Mensah on June 13, 2022, it brings an end to a 14-month trial that began on September 22, 2021.
Background of the case involving the former Lighthouse bishop In 2019, two years after Bishop Emmanuel Oko Mensah resigned from his position, the church filed a complaint against him through an administrator named Rebecca Addae, claiming that he was still keeping the church's $20,000 Hyundai Elantra dishonestly.
Oko Mensah, who had been serving the church for 16 years, was accused of stealing by the complainant.
The objection likewise came over two years after Emmanuel Oko Mensah and five other previous ministers had sued the congregation for injury and financial abuse.
Lighthouse Chapel International also filed criminal complaints against Oko Mensah and some of the other former employees who have sued the church, such as the former Bishop Larry Odonkor, while the cases are still pending.
In the criminal case against Emmanuel Oko Mensah, the church claimed that their former bishop had refused to give the church the vehicle that had been given to him, and that the church had tried everything it could to get it back, but nothing had worked.
Even though it was the church's responsibility, Oko Mensah told the police that he had the car in his possession and expected the church to reimburse him for the money he had used to service it. Since he left the church more than two years ago, the former bishop claimed, the church had not requested the vehicle's return. He stated that if the church had requested it, he would have returned it.
However, he stated that he also kept it because it had been "the practice" for departing employees to keep their official vehicles after several years of service and he had a reasonable expectation that he could do so.
Michael Vengkomwine, the church's HR officer, confirmed his claim by stating to the police that it was true that some former employees had received their assigned vehicles, but that it was only upon proper resignation.
The departure of Oko Mensah was “sudden” and “without prior notice.” He claimed that the church would have given Oko Mensah the forms for the transfer of ownership if it had wanted to give him the car as a gift.
The vehicle that the former lighthouse received in 2012
The vehicle that the former lighthouse received in 2012
Case lacks evidence – A-G The Attorney General stated that after carefully reviewing the police docket, it was evident that Lighthouse knew where the car was because Oko Mensah did not change ownership of the vehicle and the car's documents were still in the church's name.
The letter, which was signed by Assistant State Attorney Akosua Agyapoma Agyeman, stated, "There is nothing in the docket to show that the suspect refused to surrender the vehicle to LCI when they requested the suspect to return the vehicle."
Therefore, we believe that the suspect cannot be held accountable for stealing. The letter concluded, "From the foregoing, we dis-recommend the prosecution of Emmanuel Oko Mensah."
In response to a petition filed by Kofi Bentil, Oko Mensah's attorney, the Attorney-General wrote a letter that called the prosecution's actions malicious. He has asserted that the church is only engaging in this behavior because his client has filed a lawsuit against it for economic exploitation and psychological harm.
The Fourth Estate was informed by Kofi Bentil that "there was never a case of stealing." He claimed that Oko Mensah returned the vehicle the following day after the police asked him to help with investigations. Throughout the trial, the church had the vehicle in its possession.