Gospel band owner labels pastor a con man

The owner of a gospel band is taking a spiritual stand against a pastor who, she said, conned her out of nearly $200,000.

In fact, Faithlyn Donaldson has been fasting and praying since Wednesday, and said she will not stop until she receives the $195,000 that is due to her. Donaldson said her band provided services to a pastor, who was conducting outdoor meetings in downtown Kingston and Spanish Town. .

"I am going to fast every day until him pay over mi money. The Bible says you must not feed a lazy man, and it's a wicked person who work a man and don't pay him," an incensed Donaldson told THE WEEKEND STAR.

Donaldson, of Faith Vibes Gospel Band, said she met the pastor via the popular social media platform TikTok, and they negotiated a fee for the provision of music services. The agreement was that the band was going to play for five days at a rate of $65,000 per day. The pastor was required to make payment in two instalments, with $195,000 due on the third day, and the remainder at the end of the week.

Donaldson said that when the clergyman failed to pay the first instalment, she sought the intervention of the police, who advised her that it was a civil matter. Nonetheless, she said policemen from the Spanish Town Police Station walked with her to the spot where the clergyman was staging his meeting and enquired whether he owed her. The clergyman reportedly agreed to make payments by the next day.

"When I reach home, him call and ask if him can make arrangement to pay me twice because the bank going to take time, and one whole heap a sinting. I told him that the only agreement that I am willing to make is in the presence of a JP (justice of the peace). I made an appointment with the JP and tell him to meet us at 3:30 the Thursday, and up to now the man nuh turn up or answer none a mi calls or texts. Him all block mi on TikTok," Donaldson said.

Contacted by this newspaper, the clergyman said he paid Donaldson in cash and did not owe her one dime. He also scoffed at claims by the band owner that he sent her an electronic copy of a document, which appears to be a bank receipt. The document shows that $300,000 was transferred to her account.

Donaldson said she is yet to receive any money in her bank account and has alleged that the receipt was doctored. The receipt, a copy of which has been obtained by this newspaper, shows that the transaction was made last September. Donaldson said the first time she did business with the clergyman was this month, even though he claims the bank receipt is proof he has engaged her in the past. He said he had paid for the services provided by her band. "Is not the first time mi a use her. So if I owe her $195,000 now, why would I send her a receipt for $300,000? That doesn't make any sense. I paid her $65,000 at the end of each day in cash and she knows it. She called the police for true, and they told me to provide them with bank statements from last year. I don't owe her a thing," he said.

Donaldson, meanwhile, is convinced she has run into a conman. She wonders aloud why he calls himself a man of God.

"I feel so cut up about it. Mi stress over it and it rest on mi head. Underneath mi eye dem get all black. Mi can't pay mi staff, and mi don't even have food in the house for mi and mi child," she said.

"A lot of people [are] telling me that I must be careful because he do it to a lot of musicians, and no one will stand up to him because him do some obeah ting fi kinda erase dem memory. Mi make dem know say mi a God pickney and when God gives me authority to do something, no man can push mi down," she added.