Shelly-Ann Thompson, Staff Reporter

Albert and Morgan

While there are varying views on the issue, church leaders have been meeting over the last few days to discuss their members' involvement in high-risk investment schemes. According to Bishop Peter Morgan of City Life Ministries, several church leaders across the island met on the weekend to discuss the highly controversial schemes.

Under discussion also was the fact that similar schemes are owned and run by the Church. Three months ago, Bishop Morgan and a group of friends started FE One, which he says is a retail trading entity and not an investment scheme.

In addition, the investment scheme, LewFam, which joined with OLINT Corp. in fighting the Financial Services Commission, has ties to a church group.

"Pastors met in order to discuss the issue because it really has become a widespread thing among the people and a number of Christians are also involved," said Bishop Morgan. "Some of us used to trade with OLINT and other groups but decided to trade by ourselves and now the business has expanded to include other ventures."

The major issue among church groups is whether it is ethical to be involved in these schemes that are seen as gambling by some.

forex trading

But Bishop Morgan argued that "foreign exchange trading is different from gambling". He explained: "Gambling is when you put your money at risk to win at the expense of others. In trading, one foreign exchange is traded against another, which happens every day. That is how funds are made. With foreign exchange trading, when there is a risk you can reduce the risk factor."

Roman Catholic priest Monsignor Richard Albert shared similar comments regarding gambling and investment schemes. Speaking with The Sunday Gleaner, he noted there is a distinction to be made between the investment schemes and gambling, which is a game of chance.

"If these investment schemes by church leaders can help the poor make some money, there is nothing wrong with it at all," Albert reasoned.

The priest added that the Roman Catholic Church has nothing against gambling once it is done as a form of entertainment. "Gambling is wrong when it becomes an addiction," he says.

Meanwhile, in the past few weeks, the church community has once again shot down the idea of casino gambling in Jamaica. The casino gambling debate was more recently resurrected following comments by Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett. He has pointed to the potential benefits of casino gambling to the tourist industry, but Albert says the church community is against casino gambling due to its implications.

"The Church is concerned about the social implications that could have. It could bring in criminal activities as they relate to casino gambling," he stated.