These are trying times for Nigerian Born Naturalized British
famous pastor, Matthew Ashimolowo, General Overseer of Kingsway International
Christian Centre, a former top pastor in Four Square Church. This
smooth-talking pastor and his church are being investigated by City of London
police for Fraud.
According to report, officers of the City of London
police are investigating an alleged fraud involving a former premier league
footballer who lost £3.9 million from Kingsway International Christian Centre,
owned by Ashimolowo. This footballer lost the money to one of Britain’s richest
evangelical churches in a “disastrous investment scheme”.
The criminal investigation follows a Charity Commission
report into “mismanagement” at Kingsway International Christian Center (KICC)
which invested £5 million with Richard Rufus, former Charlton Athletic player.
Rufus was found by a civil court judge in 2015, a civil
court judge indicted Rufus for operating a Ponzi-style scheme between 2007 and
2011, losing or spending £8 million from several investors.
Rufus was a leading member of the KICC. Rufus whose
“founder, visionary and senior pastor” is Matthew Ashimolowo, a Nigerian
evangelist who preaches a “health and wealth” gospel to a congregation of
thousands at his “Prayer Palace” in Kent. The largely African and Caribbean
churchgoers are urged to give regular tithes and the church collected £5.8m
from them in 2015, according to the latest accounts.
Quoting documents it obtained, the newspaper said the
church, which is populated by Africans and Caribbeans, collected £5.8 million
from its members in 2015.
In 2009 and 2010, the trustees reportedly agreed to give
Rufus £5 million to invest after he promised them returns of 55 percent a year
at a time when interest rates were less than 1 percent.
As well as millions in donations from churchgoers – which
were boosted by gift aid tax relief – it had recently received £10 million from
the London Development Agency, a public body that needed to demolish the
church’s then home in east London to build the Olympic Park.
“Detectives from City of London police’s fraud teams are
investigating,” a police spokesman confirmed. There have been no arrests.
In a damning set of conclusions published in December,
the Charity Commission said the trustees “did not exercise sufficient care” when
they gave Rufus the church’s money.
The regulator said they failed to check if Rufus had any
investment qualifications or experience and gave little thought to the
extraordinarily high rate of return Rufus was promising.
The church’s senior management team concluded his
“personal guarantee makes this as safe an investment as any” and produced a
report on the investment that included no checks on Rufus’s past investment
performance or any references from clients. For the records, it is the second
time the Charity Commission has had to investigate the church.
In 2005, when it was known as the King’s Ministries
Trust, the regulator ordered Ashimolowo to repay £200,000 after it emerged he
used church assets to buy a £13,000 Florida timeshare and spent £120,000 on his
birthday celebrations, including £80,000 on a car.
New trustees were appointed and Ashimolowo was removed
from his role as chief executive. Recently, KICC issued a statement of
Ashimolowo in the deal.
The statement signed by Dipo Oluyomi, chief executive
officer and James McGlashan, chief operating officer for the church said the
investment was made seven and a half years ago.
KICC admitted that its trustees made the decision to
invest in the scheme, but said Ashimolowo had nothing to do with it.
Source: The Cable
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