Church must repay ‘dirty money’

THE Voice of God Tabernacle should be made to pay back the more than N$283 000 in ill-gotten gains from one of its members, Namangol Investments CEO Nico Josea, the Avid inquiry revealed on Thursday night.

So too should the “brothers” from the Angolan and South African branches of the church Josea gave money to. During a special evening session of the inquiry to make up for lost time on Thursday, Acting Judge Raymond Heathcote requested that the pastor of the Voice of God Tabernacle in Khomasdal, Daniel Smith, be called to testify about the money the church received from Josea.If Smith refused to do so, he must be subpoenaed to appear, the judge said.A seemingly modern-day Robin Hood, a tired Josea told the court that he had dished out US dollars to a couple of Angolan “brothers” and written a cheque of N$30 000 to a pastor of the Voice of God church in Bloemfontein, South Africa.Josea could not remember exactly how the US$400 000 he had asked his brother to get for him had been spent.”Money is not an issue for me.That’s why I was helping and supporting where I can.There are so many church brothers that come to my office.Everyone has a problem,” he recounted.”When we talk about brothers, we are talking about brothers in Christ,” he explained further.In the period under review, Josea at one point paid the church N$70 000 in tithes.PAYING TITHES He insisted that the church was not doing anything untoward with the money, and that according to the Bible people should pay tithes as they did their taxes.He said his contribution went to preaching the gospel.If the money given to the church was “dirty”, God would punish him, he said.Three weeks ago, the inquiry heard how Josea sent his brother Benedictus to exchange Namibia dollars for about US$400 000 at the clothing store Kilimanjaro.Josea struggled, however, to immediately come up with a list of Angolan “brothers” he had given cash to.”What are the names, Mr Josea?”, Heathcote pressed, “there might be a basis in law to go after these brothers”.After coming up with only two names and vague addresses in Angola, Josea’s legal representative, Jaco van Rooyen, asked for the court to be adjourned, saying his client was exhausted after having testified since early that morning.But Heathcote was not about to let him off the hook, and requested that instead Josea draw up a list with contact details of “brothers” he had given money to.Heathcote further wanted to know whether the money Josea had given to his “brothers” were loans or not.Josea said it was never expressly stated that the men had to pay the money back because he believed that “if I give it [money] to them, another blessing will come back”.Heathcote also wanted to know whether the church would be prepared to pay back the money Josea had given it and requested that the pastor be called to answer.According to Josea’s records, he had written a cheque for N$13 000 for a church function at Heja Lodge.Josea said the amount was equally shared among three of them, and that he had only written out the cheque and was refunded for the other two’s contributions.Two weeks ago, three fellow members of the Voice of God Tabernacle, Peter Boonzaaier, Heinrich Helm and John Smith, told the court how they had spent the N$1,1 million Josea gave them.They have pledged to pay the money back.BENEFICIARY LIST Among Josea’s office documentation, liquidators have also found a list of seventeen names with amounts ranging between N$20 000 and N$100 000.Josea maintained that none of the people, from “Veronica” at the top of the list to “Bernadette” at the bottom, had received a “cent from him”.He said he intended to given them this money when another deal he had with South African trader Alan Rosenberg paid out next February.Josea also wrote out generous cheques to his sons – one of whom is studying to become a pilot at the 43 Air School in Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape.Since the beginning of the year, this son has received cheques valued at N$75 000, which Josea told the court was to cover his travel expenses and his tuition.Another son received N$50 000 to deposit into his savings account, and the court asked for this account number so that the money could be returned.During a special evening session of the inquiry to make up for lost time on Thursday, Acting Judge Raymond Heathcote requested that the pastor of the Voice of God Tabernacle in Khomasdal, Daniel Smith, be called to testify about the money the church received from Josea.If Smith refused to do so, he must be subpoenaed to appear, the judge said.A seemingly modern-day Robin Hood, a tired Josea told the court that he had dished out US dollars to a couple of Angolan “brothers” and written a cheque of N$30 000 to a pastor of the Voice of God church in Bloemfontein, South Africa.Josea could not remember exactly how the US$400 000 he had asked his brother to get for him had been spent.”Money is not an issue for me.That’s why I was helping and supporting where I can.There are so many church brothers that come to my office.Everyone has a problem,” he recounted.”When we talk about brothers, we are talking about brothers in Christ,” he explained further.In the period under review, Josea at one point paid the church N$70 000 in tithes.PAYING TITHES He insisted that the church was not doing anything untoward with the money, and that according to the Bible people should pay tithes as they did their taxes.He said his contribution went to preaching the gospel.If the money given to the church was “dirty”, God would punish him, he said.Three weeks ago, the inquiry heard how Josea sent his brother Benedictus to exchange Namibia dollars for about US$400 000 at the clothing store Kilimanjaro.Josea struggled, however, to immediately come up with a list of Angolan “brothers” he had given cash to.”What are the names, Mr Josea?”, Heathcote pressed, “there might be a basis in law to go after these brothers”.After coming up with only two names and vague addresses in Angola, Josea’s legal representative, Jaco van Rooyen, asked for the court to be adjourned, saying his client was exhausted after having testified since early that morning.But Heathcote was not about to let him off the hook, and requested that instead Josea draw up a list with contact details of “brothers” he had given money to.Heathcote further wanted to know whether the money Josea had given to his “brothers” were loans or not.Josea said it was never expressly stated that the men had to pay the money back because he believed that “if I give it [money] to them, another blessing will come back”.Heathcote also wanted to know whether the church would be prepared to pay back the money Josea had given it and requested that the pastor be called to answer.According to Josea’s records, he had written a cheque for N$13 000 for a church function at Heja Lodge.Josea said the amount was equally shared among three of them, and that he had only written out the cheque and was refunded for the other two’s contributions.Two weeks ago, three fellow members of the Voice of God Tabernacle, Peter Boonzaaier, Heinrich Helm and John Smith, told the court how they had spent the N$1,1 million Josea gave them.They have pledged to pay the money back.BENEFICIARY LIST Among Josea’s office documentation, liquidators have also found a list of seventeen names with amounts ranging between N$20 000 and N$100 000.Josea maintained that none of the people, from “Veronica” at the top of the list to “Bernadette” at the bottom, had received a “cent from him”.He said he intended to given them this money when another deal he had with South African trader Alan Rosenberg paid out next February.Josea also wrote out generous cheques to his sons – one of whom is studying to become a pilot at the 43 Air School in Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape.Since the beginning of the year, this son has received cheques valued at N$75 000, which Josea told the court was to cover his travel expenses and his tuition.Another son received N$50 000 to deposit into his savings account, and the court asked for this account number so that the money could be returned.