Nigerian Evangelical Pastor, Sunday Adelaja, Charged With Fraud In Ukraine!

[Ispy]

Nigerian Evangelical Pastor, Sunday Adelaja, Charged With Fraud In Ukraine!

Tue Mar, 17 2009

Ukrainian law enforcers on Tuesday formally charged the ethnic Nigerian leader of a hugely popular evangelical Christian church of complicity in bilking his congregation of millions, the Interfax news agency reported.




Pastor Sunday Adelaja, senior pastor of Embassy of God in Kiev, Ukraine, was among the ringleaders in an international scheme to attract funds from Ukrainian churchgoers into questionable Nigerian businesses run by friends and relatives, the accusation read in part.

The main beneficiary of investment money funneled from Embassy of God accounts to Nigeria was the Lagos-headquartered Kings Capital investment company, a firm according to Ukrainian prosecutors without real business activity.

Ukrainian police last week arrested the head of the Kiev branch of King Capital, an Adelaja associate and Embassy of God member, on similar charges. The firm despite promises of high returns in November stopped paying dividends.

Adelaja, a former university student turned charismatic preacher, frequently suggested to churchgoers they invest their money in King's Capital, as he knew its management were "Godly men."



Adelaja has denied the prosecutor's charges and claimed the Ukrainian government is targeting him because of the Embassy of God's growing popularity, and on racial grounds.

Ukrainian police have served Adelaja with an order to remain in Ukraine until the charges are dropped.

Adelaja faces the formal charge of "financial machinations in especially large volume," a crime carrying a sentence of 5 to 12 years in prison.

Starting as a weekend prayer meeting in Adelaja's apartment in the early 1990s, the Embassy of God church has ballooned into according to media reports East Europe's largest evangelical church, with more than 25,000 active members in Kiev alone, and branch churches in fifteen more Ukrainian cities, according to the church web site.

The Embassy of God and its leadership have done nothing wrong, and any formal charges will be faced and defeated in court, Adelaja said last week.

http://www.thetimesofnigeria.com/Article.aspx?id=1511

[Ranter]

whats with these guys and disused warehouses?

[Ispy]

Nigerian pastor defraud members of over $100 million in Ukraine

…Faces 12 years jail term

Flamboyant Nigerian pastor and apparently Ukraine’s most prominent Pentecostal leader, Sunday Adelaja, have been indicted on fraud charges. Pastor Adelaja is the senior pastor of the largest church in the Ukraine, "The Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations, Kiev."

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry has accused him of defrauding citizens of money, the ministry’s Department for Media Liaison and International Activity said. gathered that the amount is over $100m.

"The investigator has brought charges against Nigerian citizen Sunday Adelaja, who permanently resides in Ukraine and is a senior pastor at the Embassy of God church. The charges were brought under Part 4, Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (the embezzlement of funds in very large amounts via fraud)," the ministry said.

Last month, several church members went to authorities saying they were unable to recover the money they invested, which left many of them bankrupt. Police later arrested one of King’s Capital leaders, Aleksandr Bandurchenko, on suspicion of fraud.



Speculation about Adelaja’s involvement with King’s Capital grew after reports surfaced that he was part of a bank in Nigeria known as GS Microfinance Bank Limited. Some speculated that Adelaja, a native of Nigeria, invested funds from King’s Capital in the African bank and planned to leave the country.

Adelaja, however, said those accusations are unfounded. He said he has never been involved with King’s Capital but denied that it is a Ponzi scheme, which uses later investments to pay dividends to earlier investors.

He said King’s Capital was a legitimate business that failed under the pressure of the global financial crisis. He said because the company poured most of the investment capital into real estate, which decreased in value, it has been unable to pay investors.

"When the economic crisis came, all the real estate is no more selling. The land is enough to pay back the money owed. ... The problem is ... everything is stopped in the country--nothing is selling now in Ukraine,’’ he said.

Adelaja said Interior Affairs Minister Yurii Lutsenko accused the church of involvement because he wants to undermine the evangelical movement in Ukraine. With several thousand members across the nation, God’s Embassy is one of the most influential congregations in Ukraine.

"(Lutsenko) is in a very bad situation," Adelaja said. "He’s got to prove now that (King’s Capital) is a pyramid scheme, but he cannot."

Adelaja said he never encouraged his church members to invest in the company and cautioned them to invest in businesses that offer insurance. "Of course ... if you invest with insurance you get less percentage," he said. "What happened was many people said they didn’t need insurance because the (King’s Capital leaders) were Christians."

He acknowledged being affiliated with GS Microfinance, but said he invested his name and influence in the bank, not millions of dollars. He said GS Microfinance was formed to give small loans to poor Nigerians as a way of lifting them out of poverty. "It’s not about what you can get, but the vision of the program is to elevate and get as many people out of poverty as possible," Adelaja said. "That is one of my lifetime passions ... because I grew up in poverty."

Although Adelaja has repeatedly denied any involvement in King’s Capital, which has not officially been deemed a fraudulent business, Pentecostal and charismatic leaders across Ukraine are calling on him to repent, saying they heard him encourage church members to invest in the company on several occasions.
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"He was not a president of this company, but he was the No. 1 spiritual leader, and he told them what they have to do," said Bishop M. S.Panochko, leader of the All-Ukrainian Union of Pentecostal Churches of Evangelical Faith, which is comprised of 1,500 churches across the nation. "He can do everything to tell them that he is not involved, but all the leaders have a lot of facts, and we have a lot of video of when he was pushing people, and he encouraged people to invest in this business."

Panochko was one of 10 leaders who met with Adelaja last Tuesday to confront him about his alleged support of King’s Capital and the negative impact some of his actions have had on the evangelical church in Ukraine.

The Pentecostal bishops, who together represent more than 2,500 congregations, listed seven items of concern and said Adelaja has a pattern of making exaggerated statements. They pointed particularly to his alleged claim that he led the 2004 Orange Revolution--when Ukrainian voters protested a presidential election many considered fraudulent--and his reports that God’s Embassy has 100,000 members across the nation. The bishops say those and other statements are untrue.

After the meeting, Adelaja issued a statement saying he did not organize the Orange Revolution, though his congregation participated in the demonstrations. He also asked forgiveness for the negative impact the King’s Capital scandal has had on Ukrainian churches, but he added that he did not personally have any involvement in the company.

Despite the statement, Panochko said the bishops would continue waiting for Adelaja to apologize for allegedly endorsing King’s Capital. If he does not repent, Panochko said the bishops would issue a statement to Christians in Ukraine and abroad, and to the Ukrainian government, denouncing Adelaja and claiming no affiliation with him.

Moscow-based pastor Rick Renner, founder of the Good News Association of Churches and Ministries for Russia, Latvia and Ukraine, said Adelaja’s claims are hurting Christians in the former Soviet Union.

If convicted, Adelaja may spend up to 12 years in imprisonment, according to Part 4, Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine

http://www.pointblanknews.com/os1582.html

[denker]

..if Nigerians/Nigerians aka Land of 419s can't conquer the world with technology/science who gonna blame dem using the words of Allah/God to achieve the same feat albeit fraudulently...

...counting....1.>>> Adeboye...2.>>> Adelaja....who is next?

[aiksmart]

..if Nigerians/Nigerians aka Land of 419s can't conquer the world with technology/science who gonna blame dem using the words of Allah/God to achieve the same feat albeit fraudulently...

...counting....1.>>> Adeboye...2.>>> Adelaja....who is next?

Denker, abeg hold your fire, this case is different, dis one is not stealing in the name of God.

[Mikky jaga]

He acknowledged being affiliated with GS Microfinance, but said he invested his name and influence in the bank, not millions of dollars. He said GS Microfinance was formed to give small loans to poor Nigerians as a way of lifting them out of poverty. "It’s not about what you can get, but the vision of the program is to elevate and get as many people out of poverty as possible," Adelaja said. "That is one of my lifetime passions ... because I grew up in poverty."

Adeboye was accused of not considering the poor before purchasing a jet. This Adelaja is now being accused of diverting church money into a bank meant to "elevate and getting people out of poverty". Everybody claims to be fighting for the poor, even Judas Iscariot.

[Ispy]

Pastor Sunday Adelaja sets the record straight on Ukraine fraud charges story


]Pastor Sunday Adelaja visits and prays with congregants children before a service in Sacramento, Calif. , on Sunday, Nov. 18, 2007.


Dear Editor,

Greetings to you from the capital city of Ukraine.

This is Pastor Sunday Adelaja writing to you.

received your news article “Ukraine police charge Nigerian pastor of evangelical church”.



I can honestly say that I’m disgusted and disturbed by this very false and inaccurate publication. What bothers me most of all is that you didn’t contact me first to find out the real story. Instead you grasped at pure lies and rumors that have no grounding whatsoever and created an article that is portrayed as true.

ORIGINAL STORY: http://odili.net/news/source/2009/mar/21/806.html

This is all a political witch-hunt that is going on here because of the social and political influence that our church and members hold.

I had actually heard that the Head of Police had made another political statement but this will keep going on from time to time, because the Head of Police – who made these false allegations - is also the political opposition of a prominent member of our church, Leonid Chernovetskiy, the mayor of Kiev.

In your article one can see that the case you are making against me is not only weak but totally groundless. So, let us take a look at the article:

"The Ukrainian Interior Ministry has accused him of defrauding citizens of money, the ministry’s Department for Media Liaison and International Activity said. Sunday Champion gathered that the amount is over $100m."

- Meanwhile this very same congregation that I am supposed to have “defrauded of millions” is praying against everything that is going on.

"Some speculated that Adelaja, a native of Nigeria, invested funds from King’s Capital in the African bank and planned to leave the country."

- You cannot produce any accounts like this because there is no such account and no bank will be able to confirm this.

"He was not a president of this company, but he was the No. 1 spiritual leader, and he told them what they have to do," said Bishop M. S.Panochko, leader of the All-Ukrainian Union of Pentecostal Churches of Evangelical Faith, which is comprised of 1,500 churches across the nation. "He can do everything to tell them that he is not involved, but all the leaders have a lot of facts, and we have a lot of video of when he was pushing people, and he encouraged people to invest in this business."

- Please find in attachment transcribed video footage that clearly states and proves that I in fact advised people against investing in the company King’s Capital.

Your whole article is phony and politically motivated, and there is nothing new in it, in fact it is the very same thing that was written before. Propagated articles like yours will keep coming again and again.

There are no infringements against me - I am at home as I write this letter.

I preach at church, travel as I want and we are preparing for our 15th church anniversary coming up soon.

Our opposition is trying to raise noise before our anniversary, which takes place in 2 weeks time.

From our end everything is under control and as far as the law goes: everyone remains innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

This has not been done. These are just allegations which we are looking forward to proving wrong.

Yours respectfully,
Pastor Sunday Adelaja

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/mar/25/100.html

[Mikky jaga]

Stealing, killing, stealing and killing
Stealing in the name of the Lord

Our father's house of mercy
Has now become the den of thieves

Stealing in the name of the Lord.

Just remembered the song.