Members' regret over £186,000 bishop fraud at West Bromwich church
Members?of a West Bromwich church that had more than £186,000 of funds stolen by one of its own trusted bishops say they are 'saddened' and 'deeply regret' what happened.
Self-proclaimed bishop Gerald Edmund admitted one count of fraud by false representation and two thefts and was jailed for two years at Birmingham Magistrates' Court last Friday.
The 77-year-old was a founding member of Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ – an apostolic faith organisation based in Kelvin Way.
The court heard how the church's trustees contacted the police after discovering a black hole in accounts, which led specialist investigators from West Midlands Police's Economic Crime Unit all the way to Edmund – exposing the enormity of his dishonesty.
Investigators discovered he cashed company cheques of up to £10,000 at a time and had made a money transfer out of the country for £14,000 as well as repeatedly stealing petty cash.
Detectives calculated he fraudulently pocketed in total £186,622.75.
His crime came after an email scam in which a fake team of lawyers in the Congo told him he had been left 24 million dollars by a religious follower, which would be released on receipt of administration fees.
Nathan Simmonds, spokesperson for Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ, said: "The management of the Bethel Convention Centre, which is the business arm of the Bethel United Church of Jesus UK, is saddened by the events that have led us to the case and subsequent sentence issued on Friday. We deeply regret the impact that this may have on the Christian and non- Christian community and sincerely pray that these events will not dishearten people from putting their faith in God's church."
Edmund of Lansdown Road, Bristol, helped found the group that has branches across the West Midlands, UK, USA and Jamaica more than 50 years ago and in 2010 was promoted to manage its finances, but it was revealed that he had repeatedly written out cheques and cashed them at local banks.
Investigating officer, Detective Constable Simon Hughes, said: "Bishop Edmund used his position of trust in the church to take advantage of parishioners' charitable donations, money that should have been used for essential church bills and to support good causes."
The church added that it is now working to secure the return of the stolen funds.
Edmund was sentenced to two years for fraud by false representation and nine months for each of the two counts of theft, these are to run concurrently.
