Recent leavers from the Two by Twos say workers in the sect receive cash, given discreetly in envelopes during meetings. File photo. Photo: 123RF
Former members of a secretive sect known as the Two by Twos have raised concerns about the religious group's lack of accountability and transparency with money, claiming the leaders receive gifts of cash and do not pay tax.
The FBI is investigating the sect for historical child sexual abuse, and two Northland men have already appeared in court over historic sex offences - one was imprisoned last year.
A man who was a minister - called a worker within the underground church that meets in homes - said he relied on money from members to pay expenses, but the senior workers held the purse-strings.
He said he gave up a career in accounting, sold his two cars then emptied and closed his bank account, giving some money to his family and donating the rest to the church.
It was three decades ago when he travelled from the North Island with just a suitcase, when he was in his early 20s.
"When I got off the plane to go down to Christchurch I can honestly say I had no money, my mum gave me $20 as I got on the plane and that was the only cash that I had, that was it."
The religious group is not registered as a charity or company, has no official name or church buildings.
Registered charities receive tax benefits and also have obligations to file annual reports and comply with charities law.
A hymn book used by members of the Two by Twos. Photo: Supplied
The Two by Twos derives its name from the workers who travel in pairs and stay in members' homes, relying on their hospitality for meals and sometimes a car.
Recent leavers said the workers receive cash, given discreetly in envelopes during meetings.
The former minister said he had no bank account and often had to ask his senior worker colleague for spending money, because they received the gifts.
"It's very awkward, you know it's like well I need some new underpants, you know," he said.
"It's also this humiliation tactic because he made me open up my wallet to show him that I only had $50 and he said oh that'll be enough till I get back."
He said he was devastated when he was excommunicated abruptly at his wedding four years later, because workers could not be married at the time. He had nothing to his name.
The former worker now sees the group as a cult, for its high control and belief that belonging to the group is members' ticket to heaven.
He believed the money handling was dishonest.
"It's a huge tax evasion scheme on the part of the workers, that's really where it's at. They leverage a law that says that the workers don't have to file tax returns but there's an assumption by those law-makers they're not receiving that much. The truth is, they receive hundreds of thousands of dollars each year."
A recent leaver, whom RNZ has agreed not to identify, said workers are still given cash in envelopes but now have access to bank accounts.
They said they know of members who have bequeathed large portions of their farms or city properties to the group and believe it has millions of dollars.
"There's just questions about the legitimacy of how things are being handled. Are people actually being forced to do some pretty dodgy legal stuff just because the church refuses to have a bank account in its own name?"
The leaver said they are taught to give to the workers who have given everything up to preach God's word but not given any information about how the money is spent and that secrecy is concerning.
"We didn't know the name of the account, we didn't know how much money was in there, we didn't know what the workers did with the surplus cash at the end of the year. So many things we didn't know and we were told not to question because we were to blindly trust that they would be wise with it."
They said wealthy families received special treatment.
"They have lots of extra privileges, visiting workers coming to stay from overseas that's a real privilege, they're included in conversation more or they might be tapped on for advice - all those things that give prestige in the system."
The sect's overseer Wayne Dean declined to answer RNZ's questions about its money-handling and tax.
In April last year, he told RNZ the group is not registered as a charity or company and said it is "a group of people who support a volunteer, unpaid ministry, according the scriptural teaching".
At the time, Dean said the workers leave their employment, take no wage, own no property and live by faith.
He said they are supported by those who follow the teachings of Jesus.
Looking ahead, the former worker wants the group to change how it handles money.
"The overseers, senior workers need to be filing tax returns and declaring how much they receive from the congregation, even though it's not a church body, but also what they spent it on, that it was legitimate and could be for the purposes that it was given."
Inland Revenue does not say if it is investigating an individual's tax status but that a gift may be assessed as income if it's given in connection with a voluntary activity that is not a reimbursement of expenses.
Charities Services only have the mandate to regulate charities that are registered.
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