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A preacher, who sold fake 91 ($110) Covid kits with claims they warded off and cured the virus, told his followers they might drop dead if they didn't buy them, a court heard.
Bishop Climate Wiseman, who preaches at the South London Kingdom Church in Camberwell, has since gone on trial accused of one count of fraud and two counts of engaging in unfair commercial practice over a year between 23 March 2020 and 24 March 2021.
The 47-year-old claimed his mixture of cedarwood, hyssop oil, and olive oil cured at least 10 people.
Jurors were told that the kits could be purchased online, after signing a Prayer Agreement Form. Followers could also use the form to leave donations without buying the bogus Covid kits.
Bishop Wiseman said in a blog that by using the mixture, which had sat upon the altar for seven days alongside a scarlet yarn, the ingredients would "act like an invisible barrier" and that "coronavirus and any other deadly thing" would pass over the user, prosecutors said.
Inner London Crown Court heard the kits were considerably more expensive than other items he was selling and his sales pitches were all motivated by money.
In an instructional video, he said people with the bug should put their heads under a towel over which some boiling water imbued with the oil had been poured.
There were also testimonial videos with claims that a woman was left...
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