adminA SURGE in cases of congregants losing money in dubious investment schemes is quite sad.
These schemes are started by their church pastors in the name of “seeding” for better fortunes.
So tempting are the schemes that members of the congregation are lured to part away with a lot of their savings into the coffers of these dubious schemes.
Old and new converts have not been spared from all this.
Together, in most of the cases, they end up losing a lot of money while also seeing their dreams, of owning property, of getting substantial returns, go up in smoke.
As the media, we have been warning congregants to avoid investing all their trust in many of these rogue pastors but it appears our message has been falling on deaf ears.
Why?
Because we can see that every day, every week and every month, the numbers of those being duped continue to rise.
Recently, we carried yet another story of a Seventh Day Adventist church leader who lured congregants to invest into a “business” he had set up.
Reports say more than U$$40000 is believed to have been raised and none of the investors got any dividends.
Even the substantial capital, which they invested in the scheme, vanished.
After duping congregants, the man of the cloth fled to South Africa, under the pretext he wanted to seek medical attention.
Assuming he had all the money, which was invested in the scheme which never was, then he had about R680 000, in his pockets, just to start whatever he is doing in South Africa.
The pastor’s whereabouts remains unknown.
Such cases have been happening in a number of churches but it seems people never learnt.
It is high time that congregants stop putting all their trust, including when it comes to investment options, in their church pastors.
Investors should seek financial advice from experts before they put their money down the drain.
Background research of investment schemes, which they intend to join, is very important to avoid cases of people being duped of their earnings.
But, for how long will congregants continue to cry foul at the mercy of their pastors, many of whom have now turned into con artists?
Are we doing enough as the media to raise awareness against this sickening practice?
Who is to blame for this practice which has left many counting huge losses?
It’s an issue that we should never take lightly as most people are losing their life savings and are left with nowhere to restart from.
Most of these pastors-turned-con-artists use a variety of tricks to hoodwink members of their flock.
In worst scenarios, we have had congregants getting raped, or indecently assaulted, by their church pastors.
These people appear to have perfected the art of duping people.
They do it in a way that makes it irresistible for their congregants to see the lie which lies beneath the flowery of their dubious schemes.
Online Reporter