Bishop put house in wife's name to avoid repaying £186k, judge rules
Shamed bishop Gerald Edmund put his house into his wife's name to avoid paying back the huge sum he stole, a judge has ruled.
Gerald Edmund, aged 77, was on Friday sentenced to two years in jail for stealing £186,000 from the Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ. He pleaded to guilty to fraud and two counts of theft.
Giving evidence at a hearing at Birmingham Crown Court he said he had done it for the good of the church, believing he was paying administration fees to release 24 million dollars left to him in a will, in what turned out to be an email scam. When asked by prosecutor Mr Geoffrey Dann if he had used any of the money for himself Edmund, from Lansdown Road, Bristol, said: "No way sir.
"One of the main reasons was I would like to help the church, and I've told them that if I got this money I would like to buy some buildings for worship." The thefts were discovered by the church in February 2011 when they realised there was not enough money in the accounts to pay their bills.
Mr Dann said the church then gave Edmund more than a year to repay the money before calling the police. By June 2012 the disgraced magistrate, who was convicted in 2001 for illegally signing passport applications while a Justice of the Peace, had still not paid back the cash.
The court was also told how in March of last year Edmund moved house with his wife, selling their former home for around £425,000 and moving into a bungalow bought for just over £220,000, as he said they could not use the stairs any more.
Edmund, who affirmed he would tell the truth in court rather than swear on a bible, claimed he put the new house into his wife's name as he thought he would die soon and did not want her to have any problems.
Difficult
Asked why he had not repaid the money with the remaining balance, he said the trustees of the church had not come to collect the cash.
But sentencing him, Judge Melbourne Inman said: "I am satisfied he has not shown any wish to repay the money, and transferred the house into his wife's name with a view to making it more difficult for the church to receive it."
The court was told the church has launched a civil action to try to reclaim the money.
