Bishop jailed for £180k theft after falling victim to African fraud gang
A trusted bishop who stole £186,000 from his church after being duped by African email conmen promising him 24 million dollars has been jailed for two years.
Gerald Edmund, aged 77, stole the cash from the Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ while he oversaw affairs at its West Bromwich convention centre.
His crime came after he was deceived by an email scam in which a fake team of lawyers in the Congo told him he had been left 24m dollars by a religious follower, which would be released on receipt of administration fees.
But at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday, Judge Melbourne Inman told Edmund that he did not believe that all of the cash he stole was sent abroad, and that he had profited from some of it himself.
Between August 2010 and February 2011 Edmund filtered money out of the Kelvin Way-based church's funds in small amounts.
Prosecutor Mr Geoffrey Dann said: "In August 2010 when this began he was a member of the executive board and a trustee member.
"He was overseeing the convention centre in West Bromwich and was responsible for running the centre, voluntary donations and so on. "
Edmund would sign off blank cheques for affairs at the centre made out to 'cash' and tell the counter-signatory that they would be used for 'unexpected eventualities' in the coming month.
Each cheque was worth less than £1,500, but the total amount he swindled was £157,500.90.
Edmund, from Bristol, also stole more than £14,000 in petty cash from the convention centre – destined for the bank. In November 2010, £15,000 was also directly transferred from the church's account to another account.
His defending barrister Mrs Satvir Aujla said: "He sits in the dock feeling ashamed of where he's put himself due to naivety."
Edmund said the cash was sent via Western Union and MoneyGram Africa to pay the conmen. Edmund pleaded guilty to fraud and two counts of theft.
