Bishop, from Bristol, Admits Stealing £180,000 from Church

By Tom Morris
Bristol Post
August 7, 2013

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bishop-Bristol-admits-stealing-180-000-church/story-19623394-detail/story.html

Former magistrate Gerald Edmund, from Bristol

A 76-YEAR-OLD Bristol bishop faces being sent to jail after admitting stealing £180,000 from his church.

Former magistrate Gerald Edmund, right, of Lansdown Road, Kingswood, pleaded guilty to swindling the huge sum from Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ Apostolic.

Edmund, who was bishop at Bethel Apostolic Church in St George between 1962 and 2002, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft and one of fraud by false representation between July 2010 and February 2011.

The married father made the pleas when he appeared before magistrates in Birmingham last month.

The court heard Edmund was prosecuted following a lengthy inquiry by West Midlands Police's Economic Crime Unit.

The Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ Apostolic is a registered charity which has its own convention centre based in West Bromwich.

The church is registered with the Charity Commission and states on the watchdog's site that it has an income of £1.17 million and charitable spending at £1.35 million.

A spokeswoman for the Charity Commission said: ''We are conducting an on-going operational compliance case involving the charity.

"The case focuses on concerns about misappropriation of funds and issues surrounding the charity's governance, accounting and reporting."

It is not the first time Edmund has found himself before the courts.

In July 2001, while still a Bristol magistrate, he admitted signing a passport application for a friend despite not having seen him for 11 years and knowing he lived outside the UK.

He also pleaded guilty to signing an application for a relative – which is against the law.

His admission of guilt at Gloucester Crown Court meant he was forced to resign as a magistrate. At the time Edmund was handed a 12- month conditional discharge.

The Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ Apostolic has churches in England and Wales, the USA, Canada, Jamaica, Cuba and Nevis and operates missions in both India and Kenya.

On its official Facebook page, the church says it is a "vibrant and dynamic worldwide Apostolic Pentecostal church organisation that exhorts the Name of Jesus Christ".

It also lists a 12-point mission statement, including that worshippers should pay ten per cent of their income to "support the work of the ministry and for the advancement of God's kingdom on earth".

The church also believes in the laying on of hands for the sick, and that divine healing is possible through prayer.

Edmund was bailed and will be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on August 22.