You're reading: Adelaja not involved in fraud, say some King’s Capital depositors

Several King's Capital depositors have demanded the immediate dropping of charges against the senior pastor in the Embassy of God church, Sunday Adelaja on his involvement in fraud and in the management of the company.

The demand was made in a statement by the head of the consolidated initiative group on the protection of King’s capital depositors’ rights, Mykhailo Popovych, depositor in King’s Capital Oleh Bebnev, and a depositor and staff member of King’s Capital in Vinnytsa region, Mykhailo Osypenko.

The statement was distributed to journalists at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine news agency in Kyiv on Thursday.

“The depositors of the King’s Capital are concerned about the position of the Interior Ministry towards them. The recent statement made in the mass media by Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko showed that the law enforcement bodies are executing political orders [in connection with] this case,” the statement read.

The authors of the statement say it is inadmissible to relate King’s Capital operations with the activities of the senior pastor in the Embassy of God church and Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky.

“First of all, it is inhuman, since pursuing political goals through the suffering of people is nothing but blasphemy. It is also illegal,”, the depositors said.

“This unlawful act insults us as law-abiding citizens of Ukraine, and discredits the Interior Ministry in our eyes. None of the depositors brought money directly to Pastor Adelaja, and many of them have never been to his church or known him personally,” read the statement.

It is also said in the statement that King’s Capital depositors dealt with the organizers and the staff of the company directly, and only in accordance with the law.

The authors of the statement claim that the investigation is “intentionally being carried out not in the interests of the victims, the depositors.”

“The situation with the company’s assets still remains unclear. However it was known from the very beginning that some of the assets consist of real property that cannot simply disappear,” the statement read.

The authors of the statement demanded the immediate dropping of charges against Adelaja of his involvement in the creation and leadership of King’s Capital and the management of its assets. They also demanded the criminal case against the pastor be closed.

“In such a manner the possibility for political involvement in this case will be removed,” the statement read.

In addition, the depositors called on the investigation to focus on the organizers and the leadership of King’s Capital, its financial activity, on recovering its assets and checking their condition. They asked the investigation to provide support for the release of company assets, or a part of them, and for their placement through an economic court under the control and at the disposal of defrauded depositors.

As reported, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry has accused the pastor of the Church of the Embassy of God, Sunday Adelaja, of defrauding citizens of money. Adelaja was charged as part of the investigation into a criminal case on the King’s Capital financial group opened in January 2009. Part 4, Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, under which he has been charged (large-scale embezzlement of funds) envisages five to 12 years of imprisonment, along with confiscation of property.

On November 24, Kyiv’s police arrested the head of King’s Capital financial group (Kyiv), Oleksandr Bandurchenko, on charges of large-scale fraud. The financial group refused to pay promised funds to its investors.

The head of Interior Ministry Yuriy Lutsenko reported the involvement of Adelaja in organizing the activities of the King’s Capital financial group on November 25, 2008.

On March 14, 2009 the pastor signed a pledge not to leave the country.