Charity linked to preacher convicted of fraud over bogus Covid cure told to shut
The Charity Commission said the Kingdom Church GB should be wound up as it confirmed it had been removed from the regulator’s register.
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Your support makes all the difference.A charity whose trustee was found guilty of fraud for selling a bogus cure for Covid-19 has been ordered to shut down.
The Charity Commission said the Kingdom Church GB should be wound up as it confirmed it had been removed from the regulator’s register this week.
Bishop Climate Wiseman, a trustee for the charity, was sentenced in February 2023 to one year in jail, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 130 hours of unpaid community work.
He had warned his followers they could “end up dropping dead” during the pandemic and urged them to get the mixture – consisting of hyssop, cedarwood and olive oil – as soon as possible.
Wiseman – who is head of the Kingdom Church in Camberwell, south London – lost a Court of Appeal challenge against his conviction in November.
The commission, which opened its inquiry into the charity in August 2020, found “significant shortcomings” within its management, administration and operation.
The regulator said the other trustees – one of whom was Wiseman’s wife – had not taken part in decision making, “allowing Bishop Climate Wiseman to make unilateral decisions about the charity and its operations”.
It also found that the charity, which registered with the commission in August 2010, failed to manage conflicts of interest between Wiseman’s business interests and the charity, demonstrated poor financial controls and management and failed to keep accurate charity records.
The regulator added that the trustees had “exposed the charity’s reputation to undue risk” by allowing it to be linked to Wiseman’s private business interests “which included using the website linked to the charity to sell an oil alleged to protect against Covid in the midst of a worldwide pandemic”.
The Charity Commission acted robustly to investigate the charity and its governance, and ultimately concluded that The Kingdom Church GB should be wound up and removed from the charity register
Helen Earner, director of regulatory services at the Charity Commission, said: “The public rightly expects charities to be places of safety.
“Trustee Bishop Climate Wiseman fell woefully short of that expectation when he scammed vulnerable people at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The Charity Commission acted robustly to investigate the charity and its governance, and ultimately concluded that The Kingdom Church GB should be wound up and removed from the charity register.”