25 June 2009
From the Superintendent Minister at Methodist Central Hall Westminster
It is with great regret that we have heard of the fake British
Citizenship ceremony held at the Methodist Central Hall Westminster
in December 2007. Many people were deceived by these fraudsters,
including us. We were informed that the event was a "Welcome to
Britain" ceremony by an established Chinese British resident who
was also a lawyer. The criminals seemed to be bona fide clients who
paid most of the invoice prior to the event and signed all the
proper contracts. When contacted by the police we offered every
assistance, and in fact our closed circuit television record was a
great help to the police enquiry.
During that year the company based here at the Methodist Central
Hall hosted over two thousand events, as we do most years. We do
our very best to make sure that we do not compromise the position
of Methodism in any way in our events. In this case we, as everyone
else involved, were deceived, and our sympathy goes to those who
not only lost a considerable sum of money but who were also
disappointed in their hopes of receiving British citizenship.
Martin Turner.