Pastor in Kaniv 'swindled' 139,000 US dollars out of parishioner
A pastor in Kaniv "swindled" 139,000 US dollars out of a parishioner. According to the police, using psychological influence on the parishioners, the 42-year-old pastor attracted to his “shrine” in Kaniv well-to-do people who could constantly donate. The people did not even inquire about what the pastor spent their money on.
In 2008, the mentioned parishioner, a 37-year-old female resident of Kaniv, also fell under his influence.
According to the press service of the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Cherkasy Oblast, she worked as an entrepreneur and had several sales outlets in the local market place. When the pastor found out about her abilities, he asked her to allocate 2,500 US dollars for the needs of the church.
The woman agreed and raised a credit to the mentioned amount in a local bank. After she paid out all the indebtedness, the pastor approached her again and told her about his plans to build a prayer house. He asked her to raise a credit and promised to re-register to her his house with a land plot as pledge property and assured that he would pay the installments for the credit on time. The women agreed and raised a credit of 139,000 US dollars in the bank.
According to the parishioner, the pastor paid the first installment in the bank on time and then began to put psychological pressure on the parishioner by threatening to punish her if she does not pay the debts.
Consequently, the woman decided to commit suicide but her husband stopped her. He informed the police about the crime.
The Office of the Public Prosecutor instituted proceedings against the pastor according to Paragraph 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine; namely, fraud. According to the law, the pastor can be sentenced from 5 to 12 years in prison with the confiscation of his property.
