$38,000 Alleged Scam: Our Side Of The Story - Lord's Chosen Breaks Silence On Its Pastor

 

 

 

The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Church has disowned one of its pastors identified as Benedict Mgdire over allegations of $38,000 fraud.

 

A member of the church, Mr. Ken Chibueze Onu, had alleged that Mgdire, who presided over the church’s branch in Georgia, United States of America (USA), defrauded him of $38,000 in a business deal.

 

This denial followed a report published by New Telegraph on the business transaction between Onu and Mgdire and how the deal fell through.

 

In the said publication, Onu revealed all the attempts he made to get the General Overseer (GO) of the church, Lazarus Mouka, and other pastors in the church to prevail on Mgdire to refund his money. He explained that the money in question was borrowed from a bank.

 

Mgdire was supposed to ship in cars, but allegedly never did. Onu’s son, who used to attend Lord’s Chosen School was kicked out and stopped from sitting for his examination because his father couldn’t meet up with his fees.

 

According to Onu, that was the final blow that broke the Camel’s back.

 

In the course of writing the story, the reporter called Mouka to hear his own side of the story after allegations made against him and the church by Onu. But Mouka, presently, is insisting that he was not the person the reporter spoke with.

 

The church’s Public Relations Officer, Pastor Louis Chidi, while stressing that the report caused embarrassment to the church, added that Mgdire and Onu had settled their problem.

 

Chidi presented the said agreement signed by both parties.

 

He added: “Some of the money had been paid to Onu. We don’t understand why he went to the media to say something else. I know the case was settled on 10th while the story came out on 13th.”

 

According to him, Onu never went to Muoka to discuss his ordeal with Mgdire. “But he met me. I told him that he should be patient that I have to confirm from the Head of Foreign Mission. This was almost two years ago. I advised him to go to Head of Foreign Mission to complain,” Chidi recollected.

 

Chidi explained that the church was large and had many pastors both in Nigeria and overseas, thus, it was not every pastor that one could recollect easily.

 

He added: “When Onu came to me, I told him there was a process of doing things, especially when it involves foreign mission.”

 

Chidi, who insisted that Mouka’s name and that of his wife shouldn’t have been mentioned in the publication, said that if Onu had met with the GO, the matter would have been settled amicably.

 

He explained that after he told Onu that there was a process to get issues done, he begged him to give him time to make enquiries concerning the matter. Onu allegedly accepted and left.

 

“I further replied that I would reply him if he could give me the names and contacts of the parties. I also told him that I would need time to respond because it was an issue that happened in foreign land. I didn’t hear from him again until the story was published. It was a business deal and both men had been transacting with each other for years and the church was not aware of it until the business went sour,” Chidi recounted.

 

The PRO revealed that while doing his findings, he called the head of foreign mission, who told him that he had made inquiries. He added that when Onu wrote a letter against Mgdire, the church didn’t waste time in asking Mgdire to step aside.

 

He said: “The brother, who was accused of defrauding Onu, got angry, saying that he was not called to state his own side of the story, hence he was no longer a member of the church. He left the church.”

 

Speaking on the issue, Mouka said: “A story was published about someone who had business dealing with a Lord Chosen pastor in the U.S. They went to the police. The person who is involved in the business brought an agreement showing that they had already settled the matter. It was not me that spoke with the reporter. It was not fair to drag my name into the matter. When you hear a negative story about us, let us know.”

 

Also further reacting to the matter, Onu said that Mouka and the church were aware of the issue between him and Mgdire and didn’t do anything to intervene or help.

 

He fumed: “Even the church’s PRO can confirm the number of times I visited the church concerning this matter. The Director of Foreign Mission, Pastor Ifeanyi, told Chidi that he shouldn’t allow me to see the GO. He said that the matter was something he could handle. And for years, he didn’t do anything about it. I later called the GO and spoke with him on the phone for over 48 minutes.

 

Source: New Telegraph