MONTREAL – They left the courtroom covering their faces and hiding the tears in their eyes.
Since Monday, parishioners from an evangelical church in Ahuntsic, a neighbourhood in the north of Montreal, have been describing how Mwinda Lezoka ruined their lives by stealing their money.
The 50-year-old is the former pastor of the Bethel Christian Community Church located on Henri-Bourassa Boulevard.
He has been charged with stealing close to $600,000 from church coffers.
Police said that the donation money, which was supposed to go toward church activities, was instead used for personal reasons.
“The people believed the money was going to the church,” prosecutor Marie-Josee Theriault told Global News.
“They were giving it because they believed in their church. They had faith.”
Prosecutors are alleging that the scam lasted more than five years.
Thirteen people have filed complaints with police.
This week, at a preliminary inquiry, a Montreal judge has been listening to the evidence in the case.
Justice Jean-Pierre Braun must determine if there is enough proof for the case to proceed to trial.
The alleged church scam is just one of three on-going fraud cases against Mwinda Lezoka.
He’s also facing charges in Laval and St-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
In the latter case, he’s accused of defrauding the owners of the Parc Safari Zoo of close to a million dollars.
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