Bishop who sold ‘Covid protection oil’ claims he cannot afford fine despite £300,000 in accounts
Bishop Climate Wiseman claimed he was inspired by a visitation from God telling him he is a prophet who can cure coronavirus
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A convicted preacher who warned his followers that they would die without his Covid “plague protection oil” has said he cannot afford a fine despite having £300,000 in trading accounts, according to prosecutors.
Bishop Climate Wiseman, 47, 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.
The oil was sold for £91, under names including “divine cleansing oil” and “plague protection oil”, or as part of a “divine plague protection kit”, containing a prayer card and scarlet yarn.
After his conviction in December, Judge Nigel Peters KC adjourned sentencing so his finances could be investigated to determine his ability to pay any financial penalty or court costs.
They revealed that Wiseman has over £300,000 circulating between various trading accounts, which include car and taxi businesses.
Prosecutor Richard Heller said: “The bank accounts provided by the defendant show what might be thought of as a somewhat irregular financial position.
“There is circulation of very substantial sums of money between his accounts, first-time credits of at least £300,000 over the last six months. At least half of that is in his personal bank accounts, not those which may be held by a company.”
Judge Peters said Wiseman paid £27,000 to a solicitor for legal advice just before Christmas from an account named London Local Car Services.
Charles Burton, defending, said Wiseman cannot pay any financial penalty imposed by the court because he only has an allowance of £400 a month from his church and that other sources of income were for expenses incurred through church work or to go towards charities in Africa.
Looking at Wiseman's accounts, Judge Peters said: “He's entitled to shop at Holland & Barret, he's entitled to eat a meal on the train, he's entitled to go to Pret a Manger, but money doesn't grow on trees, it has to come from somewhere. That's all I'm concerned with.”
Wiseman, who is head of the Kingdom Church in Camberwell, south London, told a court he was inspired by a visitation from God telling him he is a prophet who can cure coronavirus.
He told jurors he has performed miracles, including curing the blind, and insisted he believed the oil – which he never claimed had a scientific or medical effect – was capable of curing or preventing Covid-19 for him and members of his church because of their faith.
Some 10 witnesses from his congregation, including nurses, told how they were cured or prevented from getting Covid-19 after using the oil by steam inhalation or rubbing it on their skin.
Wiseman, who offered other products for sale, including oil to help in court cases, denied fraud and two alternative counts under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations.
But he was found guilty by a jury at Inner London Crown Court on Thursday of the more serious offence of fraud between 23 March 2020 and 24 March last year by a majority of 11 to one.
Also known as Dr Climate Wiseman and Climate Irungu, he and his church were investigated in 2016 for offering oil for sale which they claimed could cure cancer, but no prosecution was brought after the product was withdrawn.
Southwark Trading Standards was alerted to the Covid scam on 24 March 24 – the day after the country was plunged into a nationwide lockdown – while the BBC also carried out an investigation.
On his blogging site, Wiseman claimed the special ingredients in the oil “act like an invisible barrier” and that “coronavirus and any other deadly thing will pass over”.
He claimed that, through its use, together with a scarlet yarn, it killed coronavirus, which “can’t stand the power of the oil” and that by coughing the virus would be expelled from the body and “die”.
Wiseman said his cure was based on the teachings of the Bible and in a video implored viewers, their friends and family members to get their kits as soon as possible.
Wiseman, of Camberwell, south London, will return to Inner London Crown Court on 1 February, to be sentenced for fraud.