Court closes fraud case against pastor of Adelaja's Sect

Pastor of Sandei Adelaja's Sect, Serhiy Lardugin. Photo: X

The Railway District Court of Lviv has closed the case against Serhiy Lardugin, pastor of the "Embassy of God" sect, who was suspected of fraud and money laundering, reports Zahid.net.

The case was closed due to the statute of limitations, which expired in August 2023. It was reported that Lardugin was one of four leaders of Sandei Adelaja's sect, and they defrauded Lviv residents of 3.6 million hryvnias during 2007-2008. They promised to teach parishioners how to get rich, convincing people to take out loans, mortgage their homes, and invest money in the "Embassy of God".

The defense team filed a motion to close the case because the statute of limitations expired on August 26, 2023. They noted that the accused had not been hiding from the court and had been in military service from May 26, 2022, to September 11, 2023. The prosecutor did not object, but one of the victims disagreed with the motion in court, stating that Serhiy Lardugin had not compensated her for her losses. The decision of the Railway District Court can be appealed.

As reported by the UOJ, in 2016, the Council of Christian Evangelical Churches of Ukraine condemned the anti-Christian activities of Sandei Adelaja.

Read also

In Khmelnytsky Oblast, the TCC abducted the rector of the community in Sutkovtsi

Archpriest Volodymyr Stefanyshyn is already at the training ground.

Church celebrates feast of Holy Foremost Apostles Peter and Paul

On July 12, the Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the Apostles' Fast (Peter's Fast) comes to an end for Orthodox Christians.

UGCC cleric criticizes OCU head for awarding Greek Catholic officials

Hieromonk Yustyn Boiko of the Lviv Archeparchy called the awarding of church honors to officials a profanation and cited the example of an OCU order presented to a Greek Catholic official.

Expert who found no defamation in Dumenko’s remarks to face disciplinary action

An Interior Ministry research center has confirmed disciplinary measures against the expert whose findings supported what the Metropolitan’s representatives described as unfounded accusations by the OCU head against Metropolitan Theodosiy.

European Parliament condemns forced Islamization of children in Pakistan

The European Parliament has called on Pakistan to establish a mechanism to protect Christian families.

Church of the Presentation damaged by shelling in Russia’s Kursk Region

The newly built church in the village of Kulbaki, Glushkovo District, was completely gutted by fire after being struck by a projectile.