Brazil: Three leaders of the cultist Universal Church of the Kingdom of God accused of laundering cash through offshore bank accounts
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Pastor Dale Morgan
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False Churches, False
Brethren, False Gospels
Brazil: Three leaders of the cultist Universal Church of the
Kingdom of God accused of laundering cash through offshore
bank accounts
* Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro
* guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 13 September 2011 15.05 BST
Three leading members of one of Brazil's most powerful cult
churches have been accused of laundering millions in church
donations and using worshippers' money for personal gain.
The charges, unveiled on Monday by São Paulo's public prosecutor,
relate to 404m reals (£150m) allegedly obtained from mostly
impoverished churchgoers by cult leaders at Brazil's Universal
Church of the Kingdom of God.
The money was subsequently channelled out of the country via a
network of offshore bank accounts and money changers, federal
prosecutors claimed.
Among those charged is Bishop Edir Macedo, a controversial
televangelist who founded the church in 1977, and his financial
director, Alba Maria Silva da Costa.
Luís Martins de Oliveira, the prosecutor behind the case, claimed
followers were tricked into handing over money to the church
through "false promises and threats that spiritual and economic
assistance would only be bestowed upon those who made financial
sacrifices for the church".
Prosecutors claim that although the church claimed to have
received around £1.85bn in donations between 2003 and 2006, the
actual sum could be much higher.
The charges also allege the church opened two offshore accounts in
the early 1990s, in the Cayman Islands and in Jersey, to move
donations out of the country.
The Universal Church was founded in northern Rio and today claims
a worldwide congregation of 8 million followers.
Church leaders promote "prosperity theology" – through which
committed believers are told their faith and regular, generations
donations can help them achieve material wealth.
But corruption scandals, including claims that donations were used
to buy luxury goods and property, have earned the church many
critics.
The church's preachers are also notorious for their open hostility
towards Brazil's gay community and African-Brazilian religions.
But Macedo's church also boasts huge support and packed pews have
brought incredible wealth.
The church owns one of Brazil's top media outlets and "temples" in
Europe, the US, Africa and Asia.
The bishop's blog is written in English, French and Spanish as
well as his native Portuguese. With an estimated personal fortune
of at least £1.3bn, Macedo leads the charge in promoting
"prosperity theology".
Earlier this month, he directed blog readers to an interview with
"the US's first billionaire" – oil tycoon John D Rockefeller.
In the blog post, Macedo pointed out that when Rockefeller died in
1937 he had accrued a fortune equivalent to 12 times that of the
Microsoft founder, Bill Gates. Rockefeller had also been a
generous contributor to his church, Macedo noted.
The church is currently splashing out on a replica of Solomon's
Temple in São Paulo that will cost an estimated £130m.
The "mega-church" will have space for 10,000 worshippers and will
house a replica of the Ark of the Covenant.
In a statement, the Universal Church rejected Monday's
accusations.
"We cannot talk about something we know nothing about," the
statement said.
"But from what we can tell through the media, these are the same
old accusations … that have always been shown to be untrue."