Malawi-born religious leader Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary appeared in a Pretoria Magistrate Court on Wednesday following their arrest for alleged fraud and money laundering worth US$6.0 million, the police have said.
Mary Bushiri was arrested at her home, while her husband was apprehended after reportedly trying to evade arrest on Tuesday, according to police.
Bushiri, popularly known as Major One or Prophet Bushiri, subsequently handed himself to Silverton police station in Pretoria following his wife’s arrest, the police added.
The mega-rich couple run what is known as the Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG), a very popular evangelical congregation which commands thousands of followers in South Africa – especially at its Pretoria base – and other Southern African countries.
This is not the first time the young couple have run foul with the law, as they are still awaiting trial on similar charges slapped on them last year.
They regained their freedom after paying a $6,000 bail.
Thousands of supporters were at the court during the couple’s court appearance on Wednesday. “We are here to support our prophet Major One, who is the only prophet in the whole world.
“He is a man of God. I believe and I trust that he is not guilty. He is the victim of the plot of the so-called devil,” one of his supporters said.
He added: “There is no way they can take him down because our God is alive and kicking and we are not afraid.”
Bushiri is said to be a multi-millionaire with ECG missions in the Americas, Australia and Africa – apart from financing farming ventures in the South Sudan and providing food to needy Africans using his ECG’s charity branch.
When he is not flying in his private jet, he has been filling up Soweto’s 90-seat FNB Stadium to capacity with his followers during annual overnight crusades.
The case continues.
NM/as/APA