Son of a Preacher Scam: Crooked churchmen jailed for charity fraud

A former accountant of a national children’s charity has been jailed for 10 years for using his knowledge of the sector to steal £1.5 million through fraudulent Gift Aid claims.

Kwabena Duodu conspired with a crooked preacher and used the details of other churches, including his own, as part of the criminal Gift Aid operation.

In total, Duodu, used the details of 10 evangelical churches across the north and east of London to submit false claims.

The 51-year-old, from Loughton, Essex, used his share of the stolen money to help buy a £550,000 house.

He also sent stolen money to his accomplice, Moses Asare, who has been jailed for seven years.

Asare, 57, was head pastor of Praise Harvest Community Church, and he used his position to convince other churches into trusting him to make claims on their behalf.

He received £320,000 from Duodu and used some of the money to act as a loan shark to members of his own congregation, charging them an eye-watering 120 per cent interest.

A third man, John Quansah, 43, head pastor of Heaven Light Ministry International, was found guilty of furnishing false information.

Eleanor Handslip, Assistant Director in HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said:

“These men presented themselves as upstanding, honest, and charitable men of God. In reality, they were just criminals cynically abusing their positions to steal.

“Anyone with information about suspected tax fraud can report it to HMRC online.”

The men were sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on December 2. Duodu was jailed for 10 years; Asare was jailed for 7 years and Quansah received a suspended 15-month sentence.

Notes to Editors

1. An HMRC spokesperson is available for interview.
2. Kwabena Kumi Duodu, (DOB 19/09/1973), of Colebrook Lane, Essex, was found guilty of 10 counts of cheating the public revenue and seven counts of furnishing false information He was sentenced to 10 years in prison on December 2, 2024 at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
3. Moses Asare, (DOB 08/08/1967), of Nelson Road, London, was found guilty of five counts of cheating the public revenue, three counts of furnishing false information and one count of money laundering. He was sentenced to seven years in prison on December 2, 2024, at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
4. John Bassaw Quansah, (DOB 09/12/1980), of Kentwell Road, Cambridgeshire, was found guilty of furnishing false information. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for two years on December 2, 2024, at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
5. Kwabena Duodu was a former finance business partner for a national charity.
6. Gift Aid allows a charity to claim back 25p for every £1 received in donations. The main requirements are that the donor must make either a written or online Gift Aid declaration authorising the donation and must have paid at least as much in Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax in the tax year the Gift Aid claim is made in. Taxpayers can declare any charitable donations either directly to HMRC or on their Income Tax Self-Assessment returns to enable them to claim tax relief on the higher or additional rate of tax.
7. Duodu made claims for 10 different charities to the total of £1.5 million (£1,554,297). The charities are all evangelical churches, the majority of which are in East or North-East London.
8. Anyone with information about any type of tax fraud is encouraged to report it online.
9. Follow HMRC’s Press Office on X @HMRCpressoffice.