By Staff Writer
Criminal Court ‘C’ on Tuesday released on bail Rev. Emmanuel Nimely, former religious advisor and pastor, from the Forkay Klon Church to Liberia’s former President George Weah,in a US$87,300 theft of Property case.
Initially, Rev. Nimely has confessed to defrauding 90 people out of $87,300 under the pretense of facilitating their travel to Australia, which did not materialise, leaving to his arrest and subsequent detention, in 2023.
Since his arrest, Nimely’s legal team has been unable to secure his bond, which failure led to his incarceration at the Monrovia Central Prison, where he had been until his appropriate bond was filed on Tuesday.
Though, the crime of which Nimely is charged qualified him for a bail, his lawyers during his first court appearance failed to secure a valid criminal bond for his temporary release.
Nimely, served as the religious advisor to former President Weah from 2016 to 2018, and was the senior pastor of Weah’s Forkay Klon Church.
According to court records, obtained by FrontPage Africa reveal that Nimely allegedly committed the crimes in the ABC Community, Baptist Seminary in Paynesville between August 6, 2023, and December 2023.
One of the victims, H. Momo Fortune, Jr., reported that he met Nimely on August 6, 2023. Nimely introduced himself as the pastor of Forkay Klon Church and the founder of the “Global Spiritual Cleansing Peace and Reconciliation Organization.”
During their meeting, Nimely deceitfully informed Fortune about a program called the “Healing Broken Hearts of Australia Reconciliation Conference and Crusade” and collected $3,500 from him under the pretense of providing an Australian visa for the conference. Fortune further reported that Nimely collected $970 each from over 80 people under the same pretense.
Nimely admitted to the allegations and explained that he had collected $970 per person as visa processing fees for the Australian conference. He confessed that, due to the failure to issue the visas and the inability to refund the money, the victims contacted the police, leading to his arrest and investigation.
The police investigation revealed that the Global Spiritual Cleansing Peace & Reconciliation Organization, established by Nimely, is a religious organization purportedly involved in conferences, prayer meetings, and teachings about peace and reconciliation. However, the investigation uncovered that the organization engaged in fraudulent activities, specifically organizing fake foreign conferences.
The investigation further revealed that Nimely orchestrated a scam visa program for a five-day conference scheduled in Australia from December 5 to 9, 2023. He created a false flyer with the images of the Liberian, Kenyan, and Australian flags, bearing the theme “Healing the Broken Hearts of Australian Reconciliation Conference & Crusade.”
