Samoan Independent Seventh Day Adventist Church headquarters in Māngere, South Auckland.
Photo: Google Maps
It follows a two-year probe into the Samoan Independent Seventh Day Adventist Church (SISDAC) which operates 10 churches in the Auckland region.
An investigation report by Charities Services published today, reveals a web of financial mismanagement and corruption that saw vast sums of money sourced from the church s membership funnelled into the pockets of church officials, many of whom were family relatives.
The church, whose services are held in Gagana Sāmoa, preyed almost exclusively on Auckland s sizeable Samoan population. It has no association with the Seventh-day Adventist Church in New Zealand and is not recognised as part of the official Seventh-day Adventist Church.