Accra Feb. 2, GNA - Emmanuel Kusi-Agyarku, founder and leader of Easy Gate Chapel International, was on Thursday convicted by an Accra Circuit Court for bigamy and fictitious marriage.

Kusi-Agyarku was sentenced to a fine of GH 300 cedis on each of the charges. Sentences were to run concurrently.

The Man of God in default would go to jail for six months on each of the charges.

The court handed down the sentences after Kusi-Agyarku had pleaded guilty to the offence.

He told the court that he committed the offence in order to secure traveling documents to the United State of America.

To obtain the traveling document, the Man of God said, he had to mingle with some couples at a wedding ceremony. During the ceremony, photographs were taken to facilitate the processing of his new marriage.

According to him, he informed his wife after he had reconciled with her, adding that he did that for her and his children.

The court presided over by Ms Sedina Agbemava rejected his explanation and convicted him accordingly.

The facts of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sarah Acquah, the prosecutor, said the complainant was Philomena Kusi-Agyarku, a trader, in Accra.

According to ASP Acquah, the convict and his wife, who have two children, aged nine and seven, married under the Ordinance in 2002 at the Accra Community Centre.

In October 20, 2008, a misunderstanding arose between the two and they separated. The issues was however resolved.

On November 22, 2009, the convict contracted another marriage between him and one Akua Grace, who is domiciled in the US.

Philomena on hearing about the marriage reported the matter to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit at Dansoman in Accra.