Evangelist accused of R5m fraud

A Cape Town evangelist will trade his place in the pulpit for a seat in the dock next week for allegedly swindling his congregants out of R5-million.

Craig Freeman, an evangelist of the New Apostolic Church, in Durbanville, who is also a certified financial planner, will appear in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court to answer to charges including fraud, forgery and money laundering.

According to the charge sheet, Freeman and his wife, Belinda, convinced congregants Richard Sims and Deon Scritten to invest in a farming development, Rhebokskloof, in Agter Paarl. The Freemans allegedly promised the congregants that they would each receive a 34% annual return on their money.

But instead the couple allegedly deposited the money in the bank account of a company they owned.

Sims deposited a total of R3.35-million into the bank account in instalments between July 2006 and January 2007. Scritten deposited a total of R1.43-million.

The Freemans are charged together with their company, B&C Management Services.

"They knew. that they could not conduct their business as the business of a bank, they were not in a position to pay the return of 34% on the investments made by [Sims and Scritten]," the charge sheet states.

The case has been set down for trial later this month.

"[Craig Freeman] was an evangelist in the New Apostolic Church . the one complainant was the deacon and the other complainant was a member of the congregation, thus both complainants had complete trust in him," the National Prosecuting Authority said.