Charles on… anything that comes along

As scams go, this one really does stand up there for its breathtaking arrogance and international scope. Gilbert Reya, a “priest” (in the sense that he preaches), insisted that he could deliver “miracle babies” to women who weren’t pregnant. How odd that it turned out that their DNA didn’t match that of either parent.

Instead, the finding was straightforward: Miracle baby was victim of trafficking, judge says. Rich people who paid tithes to Reya’s church would be taken to hospitals near African slums where .. goodness me! A baby would be “delivered”. And somewhere down the hall would be a mother who would be told her newborn baby had died and no, she couldn’t see it.

The judge said supporters of Mr Deya had asked what possible motive there could have been for the deception because Mr and Mrs E had paid no money for the pregnancies.

He said the church’s funds had been generated at least in part by tithes collected from a congregation “deceived by the claims that have been made about Mr and Mrs E’s miracle births”.

The Charity Commission has frozen the bank accounts of Mr Deya’s ministry, which has churches in Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool and Manchester.

Go to it, Charity Commission. Really a race between the UK police, the Nairobi police, the Charity Commission and the US FBI (which is also looking into this..) to see which one can get Mr Reya into the dock first. And we’ll see what sort of miracles he can work then.

But there’s just one little thought that nags away at me. The new “parents” to these children were moneyed, if stupid and greedy. These children were effectively plucked from poverty. Where would their lives be best spent? Perhaps they would have grown up, in the slums, to be the next Nelson Mandela. But maybe not.

These posts might be related (the database thinks..):
• The potato PC scam (23 February 2005; score: 68.14%)
• Shout at your rattle and yowl: deaf babies aren't quiet babies (2 July 2005; score: 40.64%)
• What didn't fall off the back of the van (18 September 2004; score: 33.44%)