Gerald Edmund has been jailed for two years for stealing funds from his own church after getting tricked into believing he had inherited money in an internet scam.
Edmund, a former magistrate and bishop, was sentenced at Birmingham Magistrates Court last Friday for the theft from the Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ Apostolic in West Bromwich; he had been serving as the church treasurer and trustee. He pleaded guilty to two counts of theft and one of fraud by false representation which took place between July 2010 and February 2011.
The Bristol Post has reported that Edmund had fallen victim to an internet scam, having been tricked into believing he had been left millions of pounds in the will of a religious follower in the Congo. Edmund sent these ‘lawyers’ at least £15,000 of the charity’s money.
When passing sentence, Judge Inman told the retired bishop: “You were able to take the money because of the high degree of trust that was placed in you by your church. You were a trustee, a member of the executive board, general secretary, and second only to the presiding chairman.
“You had effective control of the bank accounts, which enabled you to fool a co-signatory into signing blank cheques.”
He added: “It is accepted that you were yourself the victim of a scam or a fraud sadly all too familiar, where somebody contacted you from Africa and persuaded you to part with money in advance, in the hope of ridiculously large sums of money being gratuitously willed or gifted to you.”
The retired bishop admitted stealing £14,000 of petty cash, transferring £15,000 out of a church account, and cashing cheques totalling £157,000.
Edmund was given a conditional discharge in 2001 for making false statements on a passport application when he was a magistrate.
The Charity Commission worked with West Midlands Police in the case. It also independently provided authorisation for the charity trustees to carry out the legal proceedings in the civil courts under the basis that they had been misappropriated. These proceedings are still ongoing.
Michelle Russell, head of investigations and enforcement at the Charity Commission, said: “We welcome the sentencing in this case which has highlighted that those who abuse charities and their position of trust in them in this way will be brought to justice, no matter who they are or the position of authority they hold.
“The charity in question has a large income, but the funds stolen are significant, and the actions taken to deceive the charity, its supporters and beneficiaries are shameful.
“The court’s sentence of two years is a warning to those thinking of stealing charitable funds this way that they will not get away with it.”
The Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ Apostolic has churches in England and Wales, the USA, Canada, Jamaica, Cuba and Nevis. It operates missions in both India and Kenya, while having its own convention centre based in West Bromwich.
A spokesperson for the charity said: "The management of the Bethal Convention Centre, which is thebusiness arm of Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ (Apostolic) UK, is saddened by the events that have ledus to the case and subsequent sentence.
"As a charity we have carried out a significant amount of work to protect the charity's funds including putting into place some appropriate policies and procedures. We are also working closely with the Charity Commission to improve our governance.
"We deeply regret the impact that this may have on the Christian and non-Christian community and sincerley pray that these events will not dishearten people from putting their faith in God's church.
"As law abiding citizens of this country we accept the sentence given today, but as Christians we forgive him and continue to pray for him and his family during what will no doubt be a difficult time for them all."
