Myth: AMI had illegal firearms

Fact: Illegal firearms – NIL

Comments:

Three AMI supporters/parishioners were charged with firearms offences after raids on their homes. One, a gun club member for 20+ years was found guilty of having his cousin’s registered firearm in his locked gun safe (SAPOL knew this beforehand).

One, a sports shooter for 30+ years of Olympic standard, was found NOT guilty of ALL charges (SAPOL was ordered to pay his court costs).

One was found guilty of a minor breach of the Firearms Act (first time in 30 years of legally owning firearms – that were, at ALL times registered)

Myth: High powered firearms were found

Fact: High powered firearms – NIL

Comments:

Not one firearm was high powered (all were appropriately stored and registered). So who ends up paying for all these tax payer dollars wastefully spent on hundreds of police force hours investigating, special forces, detectives, equipment. forensic scientists and State resources being sent on a wild goose chase? Is Martin Penney the main antagonist liable to foot the entire bill for wasting all these State Government funds to create a media circus using SAPOL officers or is it the hierarchy of SAPOL itself – used by the higher echelons in their organisation and corrupt politicians to cover their own evil greed in trying to setup a legitimate Church and Pastor? God will answer as evil has a way of being exposed sooner or later !  

Myth: AMI/Agape has a shooting range

Fact: Not even any evidence of shooting range.

Comments:

AMI’s/Agape’s rehabilitation facility at Kuitpo in the Adelaide Hills is overlooked by surrounding farms and visible farmhouses, with a typical 3-strand wire fence of 1 metre height, not barbed wire high fences as portrayed in the Who magazine aerial shots and other lying media reports, including South Australia’s Advertiser Newspaper. The 1 metre fences all around the rehab farm are only adequate for constraining a few cows, but could not even the wildest imaginings be called a compound fence designed to conceal. See actual pictures below for a true perspective..A 60 Minutes producer wanted to do a story about it as they came out to see the Kuitpo farm for themselves and were shocked as they too believed the media reports believing there to be high barbed wire fences as some cult compound. But what they saw was a serene rural setting. The producer said it was nothing like what was portrayed in the news. The facts of the story are so astounding that if presented as a ‘blockbuster’ true life movie; watchers would say ‘it’s unbelievable!’ ‘it couldn’t really have been that bad…could it?’ When this producer was provided with substantial proof it caused great excitement. It also caused shock and horror to some for when they approached high level South Australian police officials for comment on camera, orders from ‘high above’ intervened to shut this 60 Minutes story down. It seems too many powerful people (prominent politicians of the day and law enforcement officers?) had too much to lose!

Newspapers reported Church Rehab farm as cult compound with barbed wire showing only aerial shots – 1st picture, yet the reality is shown in the next 3 pictures (Agape’s own pictures) with only 1 metre high stock fences all around the property and other neighbours farmhouses in full view. Twisted media lies to sensationalise.

Myth: Pastor Leo is a fraudster

Fact: Ps Leo has given his life to helping others, and since AMI was established has never taken a wage from this church.
See his continued selfless work without any pay exiled in Fiji –  Missionary work in Fiji 2010-2018

Comments:

SA’s Director of Public Prosecutions & SAPOL have publicly stated there is no chance of Ps Leo being charged with fraud. The DPP did two media releases and a media conference to confirm the facts. This included noting that the witnesses interviewed were unreliable. Due to media speculation SAPOL stated the facts on their news website, and also confirmed there were no firearms charges either.

Myth:Pastor Leo allegedly assaulted an AMI parishioner’s husband – Phil Arbon (now deceased).

Fact: The reverse is true. Over a 6 week period leading up to an incident at Adelaide airport after Pastor Leo had come off a plane and was accosted and repeatedly photographed at close range in the exit foyer of the airport by Phil Arbon, an accomplice of main antagonist Martin Penney, reports were made to police by numerous people of Ps Leo being stalked, threatened & now assaulted in the airport. Ps Leo himself immediately went to file a police report on the day of Arbon’s assault at the airport and report that he (Ps Leo was assaulted by Arbon as Arbon had injured his hand and assaulted Pastor Leo) yet it took Arbon months to file a report of a supposed assault at the airport, months after Ps Leo had left the country? Why ? Did police help him to try and get an assault conviction against Ps Leo so they could try and get him for something?  Numerous police reports were placed about Arbon’s harassment of Ps Leo outside Church grounds shouting obscenities at him and threatening to kill him (witnessed by many parishioners) but Police chose not to act on any of these reports – rather they let Phil Arbon continue to harass Ps. Leo. When asked about what was to be done about the harassment by concerned parishioners, SAPOL police at Holden Hill police station had no answer.

Comments:

Numerous police reports (including one where Phil Arbon asked another Agape parishioner for a gun to “take out”/kill the Pastor) were made to SAPOL about these threats against Ps Leo. SAPOL appears to have ignored them all, and has not released the full CCTV footage of the alleged assault only presenting a partial view of the footage in order to garner an arrest warrant for him. SAPOL asked Arbon to make a statement months after the incident. Ps Leo filed a police report on the same day as he was assaulted. Big difference ! If one had truly been assaulted as Arbon had claimed months later, wouldn’t he have gone to the police straight away on the day and file a report as did Ps Leo? 

Myth: AMI is not a church / charity the police are told.

Fact: Since 1998 AMI has been registered with the ATO as a Religious Institution / Bible College.

Comments: In a highly unusual move, motivated by and based upon the flawed intelligence of the police raids and media frenzy, the ATO (Australian Taxation Office) revoked AMI’s status as a charity a few days after SAPOL’s illegal raids on AMI’s properties. Note: The ATO cannot revoke status of a religious institution because it is not equipped to do so. Why? Because it cannot disprove that churchgoers believe in a higher being (definition of religious institution), particularly given the mountain of evidence provided by parishioners (testimonies, signed statements, DVD’s etc. etc.).

Myth: Civil court claims against Ps Leo, Assistant Ps Veneziano & Youth Minister Veneziano means they must be guilty of something!

Fact: None of these claims have been tested in a court of law.

Comments: One of the two claims was hastily withdrawn (when he realised he’d been exposed as a SAPOL Police informant) by the plaintiff without getting one cent. This spurious claim was withdrawn as soon as he saw a document proving him to be a SAPOL informant.

The other case was unjustly awarded in the plaintiff’s favour because Ps Leo, who was under house arrest in Fiji, could not attend the Australian court hearing. Due to the defendants leaving the country on a scheduled missionary trip before the illegal raids, the resulting media frenzy, threats to their lives and lack of confidence of police protection, they overstayed their visas in Fiji. Since being detained in Fiji they had been under house arrest and constrained from leaving that country. Hence they were unable to defend themselves in the civil case that did go to trial. A default judgement was awarded against them, without the flimsy claim being tested. Even the Judge presiding in this case later commented that he should have tested their evidence before making that judgement !

Myth: Intelligence proves guilt.

Fact: Evidence proves guilt.

Comments: Intelligence is not the same as evidence. Intelligence is unproven. It can be rumour. It can be partly true. It can be wildly untrue.

On the other hand, evidence is proof. It is proven facts.

The media reports, SAPOL raids, ATO revoking of AMI’s charity status, audit and assessments were all based on intelligence, not facts. There was no substation or validation done. In the case of the ATO even when concrete evidence has been provided they continue to ignore it.

A few general comments:

A respected lawyer commented on the treatment metered out to Ps Leo, AMI and its followers: “I haven’t seen anything like this since the Lindy Chamberlain (where it took 32 years for Lindy to be completely exonerated of killing her own child).”

This entire matter has been fabricated by a few people motivated by greed, envy, and ambition. These same people do not care who else is hurt in the process. What does this tell you about the type of person who would be so careless of the damage caused to others who have never done anything to their persecutors?