SDA CONNED CHURCHGOERS OUT OF £3M...

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Seventh Day Adventist who conned churchgoers out of £3m is jailed for seven years

• Owen Bowcott
• The Guardian,
• Tuesday March 11 2008
• Article history

A Seventh Day Adventist who persuaded churchgoers to invest millions of pounds in a City scam that funded his extravagant lifestyle has been jailed for seven years.

Lindani Mangena, 24, of Romford, east London, was described as a "modern-day Moses" for his promises to deliver profits of up to 3,000% to fellow worshippers.

At Southwark crown court judge Peter Testar condemned Mangena as "pitiless and arrogant" for deceiving more than 1,000 Seventh Day Adventists .

Some investors, believing God had blessed him, remortgaged, only to lose their homes and life savings. Others struggled to stave off repossession. Many had to forgo holidays, and large numbers were plunged into depression. One victim even gave up his job to join the company.

The court heard that Mangena and two partners set up a City office near the Bank of England and offered a variety of bogus investments with "guaranteed" profits.

One victim lost nearly £200,000, and the sophisticated seven-month con saw clients hand over a "minimum" of £3.2m altogether.

Complaints were met with excuses or "heavies" outside headquarters.

Money flooded in so swiftly that Mangena installed a cash-counting machine at the offices, while one witness saw "piles" of notes in his luxury apartment.

Stephen Winberg, prosecuting, said £1m disappeared "supporting a wildly extravagant lifestyle ... to which the defendants had not, to put it mildly, been accustomed".

As well as having a deposit on a £4.5m apartment, Mangena rented a £650-a-week luxury flat at St George's Wharf, Vauxhall, south London.

Dean Hinkson, 29, swapped his council house for a home next to his crooked boss and spent £24,700 on a Mercedes and personalised number plate. He also joined Mangena on a £10,000 jaunt to the five-star Sheraton hotel in Abu Dhabi, and spent £55,815 on a one-day stay in the royal suite at Dubai's seven-star Burj al Arab hotel. He was jailed for 15 months. So, too, was Curtis Powell, 31, who blew £25,000 on a BMW 330i and a further £35,000 on a BMW X5 for his mother. Police have recovered £900,000 and are hunting for more.

Despite blaming his co-defendants, Mangena was convicted of fraudulent trading between July 31 2003 and March 1 2004, money laundering and carrying on an unauthorised investment business.

Hinkson, of Croydon, south London, and Powell, of Thornton Heath, south London, were found guilty of "communicating an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity".

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/mar/11/ukcrime.religion