Samoan church no longer charity

Investigation report findings

AUCKLAND: A Samoan church in Auckland has been struck off the Charities Register after its employees stole millions of dollars in church funds, and poured millions more into dubious investments.

It follows a twoyear probe into the Samoan Seventh Day Adventist Church (SISDAC) which operates 10 churches in the Auckland region.

An investigation report by Charities Services published yesterday reveals a web of financial mismanagement and corruption in which vast sums of money sourced from the church's membership were funnelled into the pockets of church officials, many of whom were family relatives.

The church, whose services are held in Samoan, preyed almost exclusively on Auckland's Samoan population.

SISDAC was first referred to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO)

Elizabeth Papu misappropriated a further $766,895 that was not uncovered by the Serious Fraud Office probe. (Her father, Pastor Willie Papu, contends that this income came from legitimate sources).

Another former treasurer, Joseph Stowers, took $498,997 in church funds as undeclared income in 2017. Pastor Willie Papu Junior banked more than $316,000 from the church and its World Committee account. (He claims they supported the church or were

by Charities Services following a 2013 investigation into the church.

The SFO probe led to the 2017 sentencing of former treasurer Elizabeth Papu to two years and nine months in prison for stealing more than $1.6 million from the church, and using the funds at a casino. That year, Charities Services opened a fresh investigation to determine whether the personal income that he paid tax on). Pastor Willie Papu engaged in ‘‘serious wrongdoing’’ by taking $84,031 in church funds for him and his family, and influencing the Samoan Seventh Day Adventist Church (SISDAC) to pay a further $63,309 of his expenses. (He submits that he never took the money for his personal benefit).

Pastor Willie Papu, who remains as an executive director of SISDAC’s World Committee, is named as a key influence on the church’s offending.

church knew offending.

The report found pastor Willie Papu spearheaded large investments including nearly $1 million into the cryptocurrency OneCoin, and $1.7 million into WFE Capital. The Financial Markets Authority warns that both may be scams.

Sina Hunt, a New Zealand woman who was central to estab

about

Papu's lishing OneCoin's presence in the country, took more than $200,000 in SISDAC's funds for her personal benefit, as well as arranging investments into ‘‘Health Coffee’’ and ‘‘Organo Gold’’, the report found.

‘‘The entity [SISDAC] lost all of the funds it invested in each scheme,’’ it said.

A 2019 investigation by RNZ found Hunt had targeted several vulnerable Samoan families through SISDAC, and had convinced them to invest money they could not spare into OneCoin, which has been labelled a ponzi scheme by authorities.

In some ways, church members are still paying for the failings of their leadership.

The report found Willie Papu had paid SISDAC $355,097 in reparations for the funds lost on the WFE Capital investment.

‘‘Most of this money has been gifted to Pastor Willie Papu by members of SISDAC's overseas churches.’’

This membership also donated about $500,000 directly to the church to help recuperate from the WFE Capital and OneCoin investments.

SISDAC was removed from the Charities Register on February 5, and cannot apply to be reregistered for another six months.

Willie Papu and former treasurer Joseph Stowers were also disqualified from being officers of charities for four years.

In the report, the Charities Registration Board said it still had concerns about Willie Papu's influence over SISDAC's investment decisions.

In its submissions, the church denied this. Papu put it differently: ‘‘I know that Charities Services would love to kill my influence. But influence is not something you can kill. It is a legacy, built upon a lifetime of service and compassion.’’ — RNZ