24. Matthew Ashimolowo Earnings Go Up To $10 Million

Nigerian senior pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) in London Matthew Ashimolowo converted to Christianity from Islam at the age of 20, after the death of his father, and his church is reportedly the largest Pentecostal church in the United Kingdom. Ashimolowo earned much of his wealth from different businesses, including Matthew Ashimolowo Media, which sells documentaries and Christian literature. A report by the Charity Commission of England and Wales concluded that there had been serious misconduct and mismanagement in The King’s Ministries Trust, the administration of the KICC. The pastor was responsible for approving payments and benefits to himself and his wife for over $400 thousand, making millionaire personal purchases with the Charity’s Visa card, buying an $80 thousand car and paying over half a million dollars to his private companies, which were operated from church property and had unclear business relationships with the charity.

25. David Miscavige Earnings Go Up To $50 Million

David Miscavige is the leader of the Church of Scientology, the Chairman of the Board of the Religious Technology Center (RTC), a corporation that controls the trademarks and copyrights of Dianetics and Scientology, and he’s also acknowledged as the ultimate ecclesiastical authority regarding the standard and pure application of L. Ron Hubbard’s religious theories. A number of allegations against Miscavige have been exposed since he assumed his leadership position, including claims of forced separation of family members, coercive fundraising practices, harassment of journalists and church critics, the humiliation of church staff members, and physical assaults. Time magazine has described Miscavige as “ringleader” of a “hugely profitable global racket that survives by intimidating members and critics in a Mafia-like manner”. Mike Rinder former official spokesperson for Scientology and director of the Church’s Office of Special Affairs has said that he was physically assaulted by Miscavige on about 50 occasions and Lawrence Wright, the author of Going Clear, interviewed twelve  former Scientologists who reported having been personally attacked by Miscavige and twenty-one people who say they have witnessed such attacks. In a 1995 interview for ITV, Stacy Young, Miscavige’s former secretary declared “His viciousness and his cruelty to staff were unlike anything that I had ever experienced in my life, he just loved to degrade the staff.”