Frederic Christopher Jerome Fernando or Father Jerome, who fled the country two months ago after making controversial statements against Buddhism as well as Hinduism and Islam through his sermons and the Criminal Investigation Department is starting an investigation, is still out of the country. Jerome, who left for Singapore on May 14 with his two children, said that he would return to this country on May 21, but it does not seem that May 21 has yet dawned on him. That is because he knows that he will be arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department at the airport the moment he arrives in Sri Lanka. If Father Jerome is to set foot in this country again, he will come only after the legal conditions for him to set foot in this country are established. For that, not only his lawyers, but also his powerful followers are not taking any effort. Sri Lanka Latest News
The number of investigations conducted against Faster Jerome is 02. One investigation is being conducted under the supervision of the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, Senior Superintendent of Police Kavinda Piyasekera. It is about making a controversial statement against religions. The investigations under the Civil and Political Rights Convention Act and the Penal Code will take place from May 16. After Pastor Jerome left the country on May 14, the Fort Court even obtained a travel ban against him in connection with those investigations. Father Jerome does not set foot in Sri Lanka again because he knows that he will be arrested when he returns to Sri Lanka according to the foreign travel ban.
The Criminal Investigation Department initially conducted its investigations regarding Poster Jerome with great enthusiasm. There, the Criminal Investigation Department looked into a lot of information from Poster Jerome’s birth until now. It was even about how he was engaged in cricket while studying at St. Peter’s College. According to the investigations of the Criminal Investigation Department, he was a good Catholic during his school days.
He memorized the Bible. For whatever reason, he leaves Catholicism and builds another religious sect centred on God. Through his sermons, he tries to show that every religion is related to the God he believes in. Father Jerome has to stay outside the country today because he tried to socialize that opinion.
The enthusiastic investigation that was in the beginning among the officers of the Criminal Investigation Department, who looked into all this in detail and in depth, is hardly seen now. Is it perhaps because there is no more to find out about Father Jerome? If not because there is no strong evidence to act against him? If not, only the investigating officers know if it is due to some other reason.
As such, there is also a problem as to whether the Convention on Civil and Political Rights Act can be applied against Jerome. It is because it has become clear from the court proceedings that even though the Civil and Political Rights Convention Act was applied to Natasha and Rajanganaye Saddharathana Thera, it is no longer possible to continue the investigations against them under that Act. Thus, only Pester Jerome was left.
The second investigation against Pastor Jerome is under the supervision of Senior Superintendent of Police Laksiri Gital, Director of Illegal Assets Investigation Division. The investigation is looking into whether Pastor Jerome is guilty of money laundering. In order to find out about it, the Illegal Assets Investigation Division had to study in depth the assets of Father Jerome as well as the plan of his religious sect to spread it.
Despite two months of hard work and investigation into Faster Jerome’s assets, the Illegal Assets Investigation Division has not been able to find that he has committed a crime of money laundering, let alone that he has aided and abetted the commission of a crime. But the Illegal Assets Investigation Division officials found a lot of information about billions of assets and money transfers during their investigations.
During the investigation regarding Father Jerome’s assets, the officers of the Illegal Assets Investigation Division pay special attention to the huge hall called “Miracle Dome” which is the home of Father Jerome’s Glorious Church located in the invisible dimension of the Katunayake International Airport. The hall, which was a huge construction like an opera house, is located on the Katunayake Minuwangoda road.
The cost of construction of this “Miracle Dome” hall, which has been built in such a way that 5000 people can easily sit on a land spread over 03 acres, is said to be close to 300 crore rupees. This building, which is an attractive design from outside as well as inside, was built after 2015. That is because Pastor Jerome received the land on which this building was built as a donation in 2015.
This building with an area of 4,134 square meters will be constructed for 06 years and will be opened on May 27, 2022. With the participation of local and foreign followers. Apart from the main conference hall, it has exhibition halls as well as meeting hall facilities which are said to be equipped with modern technology.
The Illegal Assets Investigation Division had even met the owner of the land on which the building was constructed. It is because the owner of this land, which is located in an area of high economic value, had given it to Father Jerome as a donation, so some research had to be done about the donor. According to information from the Illegal Assets Investigation Division, he is a former police officer.
He is also among the unknown rich in our country. Almost everyone in his family, including him, who has studied in a leading school in Colombo, is followers of Father Jerome. They say that from the day they attended Father Jerome’s blessing services; they got rid of sicknesses and business flourished.
This businessman owns an apparel industry with a leading brand name. Now it is said that the garment factory has been sold to a foreigner. It is said to have sold for $19,000 million. The factory is said to be located near the Katunayake Free Trade Zone. Although the factory was given to a foreigner, it is said that this businessman still owns the land where the factory is located. Therefore, the amount said to be received by this businessman only as monthly rent of the land is 110 lakh rupees.
This businessman is a strange type. A person who was closely associated with even state leaders, he is a huge figure among his school friends and in the society. This businessman even built a swimming pool for the school he attended with his personal money. Investigations by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division have revealed that even the land donated to Foster Jerome to build the “Miracle Dome” hall was bought by him for 09 crore rupees.
Initially it was said that he bought this land for 72 million rupees. The information about the actual measurements of the land purchased will come out after the officials of the Illegal Assets Division got a chance to talk to the businessman who donated the land.
As revealed there, he bought the land from a relative of a powerful politician in Gampaha. It is with the expectation of building a star class hotel on that land. Aside from that expectation, the land is donated to Father Jerome to build a lecture hall with sufficient space as the building on Mt. where the blessing services were held at that time was not enough due to the growing number of followers.
That was at a time when they were planning to hold services by reserving space at the Bandaranaike International Conference Hall. All this is revealed through the investigations conducted by the Illegal Assets Investigation Division.
Although the exact number of followers of Father Jerome has not confirmed, 18,000 of those followers contributed money to the construction of the “Miracle Dome” lecture hall, according to the Illegal Assets Investigation Division. How much aid was given by that group? Who are they? The information has already reached the hands of the officers of the Financial Crimes Division.
There are many famous businessmen in this list. Among them, the name of one of the most famous businessmen engaged in vehicle sales business is in front. Apart from that, there are also those who are in the big chairs in the field of law as well as in the places where laws are drafted. Even the officers of the Illegal Assets Investigation Division come to know that doctors, engineers, bankers and other well-known professionals of the society are also followers of Father Jerome when checking the register of those who donated money for the construction of the “Miracle Dome”.
Apart from that, those who are in the big chairs of some government institutions as well as private institutions are also not among those who helped and supported the construction of “Miracle Dome”. Investigations have also revealed that some government officials have donated money for this purpose by selling the vehicle licenses they receive from the government. The Illegal Assets Investigation Division is ready to question them about it in the future.
These 18,000 followers have contributed in no small way to the building of the “Miracle Dome” hall. Aid money has been given even in unimaginable amounts. A receipt has even been given for every amount of aid by a company established for the construction and maintenance of this building. Thus, the Illegal Assets Investigation Division has found that there are six companies related to Father Jerome’s religious sect. Each of those companies is audited by a leading auditing company in this country, which has even received international recognition. It is stated that several auditors of the company are fully engaged in this work.
Even the “Miracle Dome” hall is being built by a huge construction company. Fulfilling all legal requirements for that construction. So there were no legal issues about that either. In this “Miracle Dome” hall, the number of blessing services held almost every Sunday of the week is 08. Of these, Pastor Jerome conducts only the main service. Many of the powerful people who donated money to build the “Miracle Dome” attend his services. The rest of the services are said to be conducted by the assistant pastors. They are all salaried people here. It is said that Pastor Jerome also receives a salary of 15 lakh rupees per month.
Paster Jerome, who escaped to Singapore, is said to be in England these days. That was also said in court last week. Even from there he addressed his followers through zoom technology. The organization even conducted blessing services.
Apart from this, the Illegal Assets Investigation Division has even received information that Pastor Jerome conducts business counseling and blessing services for his business followers. This counseling service is online only. Only pre-registered businessmen have the opportunity to participate. The officials of the Illegal Assets Investigation Division have found that there are about 300 registered businessmen.
Businessmen who are registered for this instructional blessing service held once a week are not only citizens of this country, but there are businessmen from 08 countries who are followers of Jerome. As it turns out, most of the people involved in this mission are foreigners. Each of these businessmen joins this counselling service by paying 210 US dollars. The fee is charged for one lecture per week only. This figure is $840 per month. It has already appeared that businessmen are ready to join Jerome’s lectures by paying not only this amount, but even more. All these amounts are credited to a bank account located in this country.
Officials of the Illegal Assets Investigation Division found that even those accounts were being audited. The money earned from this business consulting service alone is not insignificant. It will exceed two hundred thousand US dollars per month. That number is more than sixty and seventy million rupees.
According to investigations, this religious organization of Father Jerome has already spread in many countries of the world. Italy, Sweden, India, United Kingdom, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, America, Canada, Qatar, Singapore and Australia are among them. Businessmen who connect online to seek blessings from Jerome are also representatives of these countries.
Investigations have shown that Jerome’s religious organization operates as a new religious sect. “Miracle Dome” in Katunayake operates as its main church.
“There was a big change in our life. “With the blessings of Father Jerome” is a story told by the followers of Pastor Jerome. Most of them are businessmen as well as influential people in the society. They are the guardians of Father Jerome even today.
He started this new sect in a small space in Mt. with a few Christians bowing to him, and he is spreading it all over the world through his followers. Investigations have also revealed that all the money received from those followers has been credited to bank accounts in Sri Lanka. Investigations so far have not confirmed that Father Jerome received money illegally. The investigation is not over yet. Officials of the Illegal Assets Investigation Division are still looking into it as there are possibilities that there may be more to it than meets the eye.
Gayan Kumara Weerasinghe