The head of the UK fundraising watchdog has demanded a
meeting with the British leaders of a Brazil-based evangelical church
after an investigation uncovered complaints about its fundraising
activities dating back to 2009.
According to an investigation by The Times newspaper, the Fundraising Standards Board is investigating complaints that the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), conducted street collections in London without a licence.
There
have also been "dozens of complaints" to the Charity Commission that
UCKG doesn't always make clear when asking for money that it is a church
– and has even sometimes used the logos of other charities. There was
also a failure to explain what they intended to do with the money.
According
to the article, members of the UCKG went house-to-house raising funds
at Christmas claiming it was to "keep the church doors open".
But
accounts filed last month showed that the church has £2.7 million in the
bank.
Globally it is worth hundreds of millions of pounds – one of the
wealthiest evangelical churches in the world.
The Times
says the British arm of UCKG has sent hundreds of thousands of pounds
to Brazil to help to build an "exact replica" of the biblical temple of
Solomon at a cost of £130 million.
The church's
founder, Edir Macedo, was cleared of fraud and corruption charges and is
thought to be one of Latin America's richest men.
The Times
reports that over Christmas fundraisers were found inside branches of
Marks & Spencer and Tesco collecting donations or packing bags for
money, although both supermarket chains said that the activities
contravened their rules.
Tesco issued a statement
saying: "We have a long history of working with local charities to
fundraise in our stores. In this case, the community voiced strong
concerns about the UCKG, so we have removed them from our list of
approved groups".
The Times writes: "UCKG
was set up by the self-appointed "Bishop" Macedo in 1977 and has
expanded rapidly across Europe, Africa and North America. Critics have
accused it of preying on the vulnerable by encouraging members living in
poverty to donate what little they have and then using the cash to
invest in property. The Church insists that it offers solace to the poor
and puts forward its outreach work as an example of the good it does".
A previous Times investigation in 2010
highlighted the UCKG's activities in Britain and found that it was
encouraging its members into debt in order to donate to the Church.
In 2010, the Church benefited from more than £8 million in taxpayer subsidy through the Gift Aid scheme.
The
UCKG confirmed to the paper that it holds an annual fundraising drive
in December and said that its members were carefully trained to observe
UK laws before going out fundraising.
It said that it
obtained permits to raise money, that bag packing was done by agreement
with shop managers and that funds were needed to improve its Finsbury
Park venue, but declined to comment on reserves held.
Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, said: "We have seen numerous exposés of this church and its dubious financial activities
but the Charity Commission seems reluctant to act, despite all the
complaints. It is time that UCKG was made to demonstrate and prove it
has public benefit. Otherwise how can taxpayers be sure that their
contribution of millions of pounds through Gift Aid is to a bona fide
charity and not to a scam? Let us hope that the Fundraising Standards
Board has a more robust approach – although it has no teeth and as a
self-regulating body few sanctions that would worry the UCKG".