No charges for $28m pastor yet

NO CHARGES have been laid to date against pastor Vinworth Dayal, who came under scrutiny from the Financial Intelligence Branch (FIB) after trying to change more than $28 million in cotton $100 bills.

Sources at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said no file on the case had come before the DPP.

In the meantime, the $30,546,500 remains in the hands of the Comptroller of Accounts, who is keeping the money in an interest-bearing account while investigations continue.

On New Year’s Eve, the pastor approached the Central Bank with $28,046,500 in $100 bills, which he brought to the bank in 29 cardboard boxes.

The transaction was deemed suspicious, the money was seized and the pastor and how he came into the cash was put under investigation.

His lawyers sent a pre-action protocol letter to the Central Bank saying the funds had been gathered from members of the church who gave tithes.

Further investigations led FIB officers to the pastor’s church, the Third Exodus Assembly in Depot Road, Longdenville, where a search uncovered a further $2.5 million.

FIB officers also went to the pastor’s house, where the confiscated boxes with files and paperwork.

If the pastor is found guilty of any crime, the money will be absorbed into the State’s coffers, but if he is found innocent, the money, plus the interest accrued while in the State’s possession, will be returned to the pastor in accordance with the Proceeds of Crime Act.