Mick Hartley

Bishop Edir Macedo of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God has been accused of siphoning off billions of dollars in donations:

The leader of one of Brazil's largest evangelical churches declared his church was "at war" this week, following allegations that his organisation had siphoned off billions of dollars of donations intended for charity.

The charges of fraud and money laundering are contained in a report by Sao Paulo's public prosecutor that was formally submitted to a Brazilian judge on Monday. The report claims 10 leading members of the church – including its founder and leader, Bishop Edir Macedo – used donations from followers to buy jewellery, property and cars.

Following an investigation into 10 years of the church's financial activities, prosecutors accused church leaders of illegally channelling donations from their largely impoverished flock into overseas accounts and businesses before returning the money to Brazil where it was allegedly used to invest in media outlets and property.

"There is evidence that the donation money was used to attend to the personal interests of those being accused," the public prosecutor said in a statement.

Religious leaders fleece their poor deluded followers. Dog bites man. It's not exactly news. But these bastards own the former Finsbury Park Astoria, later the Rainbow, just down the road from me: in its prime in the 70s one of London's major rock venues. It's their main UK site. So, whereas in the 70s the place hosted the likes of Jimi Hendrix, the Who, Bob Marley, the Clash, the Ramones, BB King, Patti Smith, Burning Spear, and many many more, now since 1995 its contribution to the life of the capital has been the exploitation and bamboozlement of a largely African immigrant congregation, and a brief moment of notoriety when it emerged as the place of worship of the deluded killers of.Victoria Climbié.

Fifty years ago there were two theatres in Finsbury Park, the Astoria and the Empire. The latter, built in 1910, finally closed in 1960 and was demolished in 1965. Its site, on the junction of St Thomas's Road and Prah Road, is now a block of flats, and sits directly opposite the Finsbury Park mosque - of Abu "hook" Hamza and Richard "Shoe Bomber" Reid fame. 

D'you see a pattern here?

Well, look on the bright side: the mosque is no longer in the hands of extremists, and, who knows, perhaps these latest troubles in the ranks of the Brazilian church will see an end to their hold over the Astoria/Rainbow. Though I'm not holding my breath.