A preacher, who ran a Christian charity and has been convicted of fraud for selling a fake cure for Covid, has been banned from holding senior roles in charities for 15 years.

Bishop Climate Wiseman, who as a trustee ran the Kingdom Church, was found guilty of fraud in 2022 for selling an oil through the charity that he claimed would cure and protect people from Covid.

Following its investigation into Wiseman’s actions, the Charity Commission has banned him from being a trustee or holding a senior management role in a charity for 15 years.

His wife and fellow trustee Jennifer Irungu has been handed a 10 year ban.

Four other individuals have also been handed bans, of between five and eight years for their role in the mismanagement of the charity.

The Charity Commission probe was launched after concerns were raised alleging the charity was selling an oil falsely advertised as a protection against coronavirus.

This was escalated into a statutory inquiry after concerns around the charity’s finances were found.

This inquiry found “significant shortcomings within the charity’s management, administration and operation with the trustees failing to give adequate assurances and addressing the issues identified”.

This included a failure to hold board meetings and all decisions around the operation of the charity being made by Wiseman.

“The trustees were unable to provide any meeting minutes, records of decision making, or management accounts for the charity prior to the inquiry opening,” found the regulator.

“There was a lack of clarity in the charity’s operations and little evidence of public benefit.

“The inquiry found that the other trustees did not take part in decision making, allowing
Bishop Climate Wiseman to make unilateral decisions about the charity and its operations. This was a key issue in the governance failures in the charity.”

We've ordered the closure of a charity linked to a fake Covid-19 'cure'.

Following a review of The Kingdom Church GB's governance, the charity was wound up and dissolved.

Read more: https://t.co/TwDn6cEZox pic.twitter.com/wGkDQpGJEq

— Charity Commission (@ChtyCommission) January 25, 2024

The regulator also found the charity had not had a bank account since 2018 and had instead used the accounts of two companies run by Wiseman and his wife. While listed in the charity’s accounts as being subsidiary companies, the regulator found there were “in fact private business interests”.

The charity’s website and social media were also “used interchangeably” with the business interests of Wiseman and his wife.

Subsequently the Commission ordered the charity be wound up and it was dissolved in February last year.

After an investigation by Southwark Council Trading Standards it emerged that Wiseman was operating his fake Covid cure business interests from charity premises and using a website linked to the charity, the Commission’s inquiry report details.

Conviction

In December 2022 Wiseman was sentenced to one year in prison, which was suspended for two years, after being found guilty of fraud. He was also ordered to pay more than £60,000 in costs and carry out 130 hours of community service.

He unsuccessfully appealed this conviction last year.

“The Commission concluded that the trustees had failed to protect their Charity’s reputation,” found the regulator.

“They exposed the Charity’s reputation to undue risk by allowing the Charity to be linked to Bishop Climate 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.”

It reminds other charities that “trustees are jointly and equally responsible for the management of their charity”.

“They must ensure that their charity has an effective trustee body to control and administer the charity in accordance with a charity’s own governing document, charity law and Commission guidance.

“All trustees are equally responsible for the decision making in the charity.”

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