Traveling evangelist guilty of scamming East Texas church

SMITH COUNTY — A Smith County jury convicted Livingstone Zitha, 52, South Africa, for felony theft from a local church. Zitha was charged with scamming a Tyler area church into providing love offerings of several thousand dollars for his ministry. Smith County prosecutors resented evidence that Zitha claimed to pastor a 5000 member church in Johannesburg, South Africa and that he ran a large orphanage. According to Zitha’s promotional materials, a donation of $250 would allow his ministry to feed a child for one year. While Zitha was described as a captivating personality and dynamic preacher, none of the money he raised ever made it to any ministry. Church members testified that they became suspicious of Zitha after he stayed with the church for two months and was having an increasingly hard time giving precise details about the ministry.

Prosecutors called two United States Secret Service agents from South Africa who explained to the jury that Zitha’s ministries were fraudulent. A local pastor from Springs, South Africa also testified that he had never heard of Zitha, his church, or his orphanage. Zitha’s bank records showed that he primarily spent the love offerings on fast food, coffee, car washes, and other personal expenses. The jury also heard evidence that Zitha had defrauded many other churches.

Livingstone was sentenced to three years in prison.