A pastor is battling charges of defrauding a faithful Sh2.6 million in a livestock rearing business that never was.
Pastor Johnson Kintalel Nkuku denied before Milimani senior principal magistrate Robinson Ondieki that he conned Yvonne Teeti Kaleti the colossal sum.
While testifying before Ondieki, Teeti told the court she gave the money to her pastor, whom she described as her spiritual father, due to the trust she had in him to purchase 100 heads of cattle for her investment.
Asked by the State prosecutor whether she knew Pastor Nkuku, she said she met him seven years before the financial deal went sour.
She told the court she heeded advice from the pastor to invest and therefore she “could not disagree with the voice of God”.
The complainant told the court that Johnson Kintalel Nkuku, the pastor attached to Dominion Church in Narok, came up with the idea of supporting her cattle rearing business where he could offer shelter to the purchased cattle.
They agreed that the complainant would send him money since “he knew where to source the flock of about 100 heads of cattle”.
She told the court that the financial transactions between the true were mostly done via mobile money and in cash “where no agreement was made but only witnessed by her friend who will appear before the court to testify”.
Financial transactions presented in court show that between December 8 and 10, 2020, she withdrew a total of Sh1,020,000 which was reportedly handed to the preacher witnessed by her friend,
“I trusted the pastor so much and I could not disagree with whatever he said. We never had an agreement neither did I visit his place and see the purchased flock,” she said.
The court also heard that trust between the complainant and the accused grew stronger to the point she bought a car and the preacher told her God wanted her to hand the vehicle to him to pray for it and anointing.
The pastor then reportedly stayed with the car for six months forcing the complainant to involve the authorities.
But she continued to send money to the preacher until last year, amounting to Sh 2,664,109 when she requested to go and see the livestock.
The preacher started avoiding her before switching off his phone.
“I noticed something was not right when he cut off communication. I then reported the matter to the DCI (Directorate of Criminal Investigations),” the court heard.
The preacher was then arrested and presented before court to face charges.
By Richard Munguti