A well-known Liberian pastor, Jerome Ben Greatness, Senior Pastor and General Overseer of Triumphant Evangelical Fire Ministries in the Chicken Soup Factory community, is at the center of a growing controversy after being accused of defrauding church members and other Liberians of over US$13,000 in a fraudulent Canadian visa scheme.
The allegations surfaced on social media on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, sparking outrage and disappointment among those who once trusted him as a spiritual leader.
According to Musa Al Hakim Kamara, one of the alleged victims, Pastor Greatness promised to secure Canadian visas for nine struggling Liberians in exchange for hefty payments.
Kamara, who spoke to the media on Wednesday, revealed that the initial agreement was reached in May 2024, with payments made in four installments.
“I was introduced to Pastor Ben by my sister-in-law, Antoinette Gobou Telleh, who spoke highly of him as a ‘great man of God’ with a travel agency that could help people secure jobs and visas to Canada,” Kamara explained.
Trusting the pastor’s words, Kamara and others began making payments. The first installment of US$6,000 was handed over on Benson Street, Monrovia, through Pastor Greatness’ junior pastor, Marvelous Paye. Subsequent payments of $3,000 and $1,000 followed, bringing the total to $13,000. However, after the full amount was paid, none of the nine individuals received visas, nor were they able to complete the biometric process required for Canadian visa applications.
“When I asked him about the visas, he told me to send the people to the Liberia National Police (LNP) for biometric registration and a police clearance, which would then be sent to the Canadian Embassy. I knew right away this was a scam because biometric data for a Canadian visa cannot be processed in Liberia—it has to be done in Ghana, Nigeria, or Guinea,” Kamara said.
Realizing he had been deceived, Kamara pursued legal action. A writ of arrest has now been issued by the Monrovia City Court, signed by Stipendiary Magistrate L. Ben Barco, ordering the arrest of Pastor Greatness and Marvelous Paye Jr. for theft of property and criminal conspiracy, in accordance with Article 15.51 and 10.1 of Liberia’s penal law.
The arrest order mandates that both pastors be taken into custody and presented to the nearest police station.
Pastor Greatness has denied the allegations, calling them an attack on his reputation.
Speaking via WhatsApp from an undisclosed location, he admitted receiving money for the visa applications but claimed the process was not completed because the full amount was not paid.
“Nine people are claiming I took money for visas, but the agreement wasn’t fully honored on their side. Each person was supposed to pay $3,000 before the biometric process could even begin. Some of them only paid $1,500, so how could the process move forward?” Pastor Greatness defended.
Meanwhile, another alleged victim, Madam Odeal Ogunbiyi, confirmed that she was also tricked into paying $5,700 for a Canadian visa. However, after what she described as a “thorough fight,” she managed to get a refund.
“You call yourself a pastor and a man of God, yet you go around stealing from people? What a shameful lifestyle! But you will pay every cent of the money you took from me and my husband,” Ogunbiyi wrote in a scathing social media post.
