Televangelist Pat Robertson used millions in aid donations meant for Rwandan refugees to fund his personal diamond mining venture in the Congo, according to a new documentary scheduled to debut Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The film, Mission Congo, is discussed In a report issued Thursday, Sept. 5, by Chris McGreal of The Guardian. McGreal reports that the film depicts how Robertson diverted millions in charitable donations meant for his nonprofit Operation Blessing International to fund his own personal diamond mining operation in Africa.
After the Rwandan genocide in the early ’90s, Robertson called on his viewers to donate to Operation Blessing, which he said would help desperate refugees; instead, pilots who worked for Operation Blessing were actually transporting mining equipment to a Robertson-backed diamond mining outfit hundreds of miles away in the Congo.
The Guardian reports some of the most damaging criticism of Pat Robertson comes from former aid workers at Operation Blessing, who describe how mercy flights to save refugees were diverted hundreds of miles from the crisis to deliver equipment to a diamond mining concession run by the televangelist.
One of the pilots kept notes on some of his trips. During a flight where Robertson was a passenger, one of those notes read, "Prayed for diamonds."
Right Wing Watch reports Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network is weighing legal action against the filmmakers.
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