Kingsway International Christian Centre

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name = Kingsway International Christian Centre
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address = London, England
country = United Kingdom
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Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) is based in London, England and was established in 1992 with 200 adults and 100 children. It currently has up to 12,000 people in attendance at the main church every Sunday [cite web
url = http://www.kicc.org.uk/church-history.asp
title = Church web site
accessdate = 2007-06-25] The Church was located for nine years on a convert|9.5|acre|m2|sing=on site in Hackney, London, close to the site of the proposed 2012 Olympics Village. The church is pastored by Matthew Ashimolowo.

KICC had to vacate the site by November 2006 in order to make way for proposed developments for the 2012 London Olympics. [cite web
url = http://www.christiantoday.com/news/church/kingsway.international.christian.centre.steps.back.for.2012.olympics.venue/1201.htm
title = Kingsway International Christian Centre Steps Back for 2012 Olympics Venue
accessdate = 2006-08-26
author = Kevin Donovan
date = 2006-06-20
year = 2006
month = June 20
format = HTML
publisher = Christian Today
language = English] However they only did so late in 2007. The last programme held at the old site was IGOC 2007 with many international guest speakers. The church has now relocated to Hoe Street, Walthamstow, awaiting planning consent and the development of a large new site in Rainham, Essex, near the A13 freeway.

Charity Commission Enquiry

The charity behind Kingsway International Christian Centre (The King's Ministries Trust) was investigated by the Charity Commission of England and Wales between 2002 and 2005. A report of the inquiry was released in October 2005. The report concluded that there had been serious misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the charity. At an early stage in the investigation, it was considered that the charity's assets were at risk and control was removed from the existing trustees and placed in the hands of an independent external company (the accountancy and management consultancy practice KPMG), who regularised the charity's affairs.

The report alleged that Matthew Ashimolowo acted as both a trustee and a paid employee of the charity, which is against UK charity law, and was responsible for approving payments and benefits to himself and his wife, Yemisi, totalling more than £384,000. Benefits received included free accommodation for himself and family,including an £80,000 car and purchase of a Florida timeshare property for £13,000 using a charity credit card, and over half a million pounds paid out to Ashimolowo's private companies, which were operated from church property and had unclear business relationships with the charity.

References

External links

* [http://www.kicc.org.uk KICC Website]
* [http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/investigations/inquiryreports/kmt.asp Charity Commission report on The King's Ministries Trust]
* [http://current.com/items/88886789_so_you_shall_reap "So Shall You Reap"] - A short documentary film showing how money was raised at a 2007 KICC event