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How pastor Ashimolowo and his church members lost $4.8M to Ponzi scheme

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How pastor Ashimolowo and his church members lost $4.8M to Ponzi scheme

An inquiry report published recently by the Charity Commission for England and Wales, has revealed that Pastor Mathew Ashimolowo and his 12,000-member church in Britain, Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) have lost the sum of $4.8 million to a Ponzi scheme.

According to the inquiry report, Ashimolowo and his church members thought they invested the equivalent of the amount in charitable funds only to discover the money was put in a Ponzi scheme run by an ex Premier League football player.

The report revealed that the church trustees doled out over $6.1 million (£5 million) in four installments between June 2009 and June 2010 to a former trustee who guaranteed that the investments would earn a sizable return totaling about 55 percent in a year.

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“The inquiry established that in practice, however, the investments resulted in a net loss of £3.9 million to the charity,” the report explained.

The report states that the church’s trustees who handed over the funds were guilty of “mismanagement.”

The commission found that the church’s trustees did not “exercise sufficient care when making the decisions to invest £5 million of the charity’s funds through the ex-trustee’s investment scheme.”

“They did not follow all the principles expected of trustees to ensure they comply with their trustee duties under charity law when making those decisions,” the report concluded.

 

 

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0 Comments

  1. Roland Uchendu Pele

    December 30, 2016 at 7:50 am

    The church is also in need of money. investment is no crime. They, like everyone else, are bound to make mistakes.

    • Nonso Ezeugo

      December 31, 2016 at 2:38 am

      Hmmmm what are you trying to saying. So crime money should be an investment for God house.

  2. Balarabe musa

    December 30, 2016 at 9:51 am

    This is funny , so even pastors are looking for hush money without working hard for it. The kingdom of God is suffering violence indeed.

  3. JOHNSON PETER

    December 30, 2016 at 12:47 pm

    MMM was wiser than the wisest and smarter than the smartest . we all fall for the ponzi scheme.

    • seyi jelili

      December 30, 2016 at 1:42 pm

      they didn’t mention MMM , so while are you people mentioning mmm? we have so many Ponzi schemes, MMM has made so many people sick in the head. I pray the healing comes January as expectations are high. lol.

  4. yanju omotodun

    December 30, 2016 at 1:20 pm

    Most tithes and offering people Pay this year were generated from mmm. So church gained and Lost as well.

  5. Johnson Amadi

    December 30, 2016 at 1:34 pm

    Omg!!! This is outrageous, everyone involved should be sent to Jesus in heaven without thinking twice! Religious scam is worst

  6. Margret Dickson

    December 30, 2016 at 1:45 pm

    “…a former trustee who guaranteed that the investments would earn a sizable return totaling about 55 percent in a year,” this actually sounds legit, anyone will easily fall for this considering the one year time frame.

  7. Balarabe musa

    December 30, 2016 at 1:46 pm

    it is even wrong for a church to invest in any Ponzi game, church of God needs not to invest at all. church is a place where we worship God and not a business ground.

    • Amarachi Okoye

      December 31, 2016 at 2:31 am

      Abeg tell them because pastors this days has turn church to a business place not a place of serving God

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