By Tim Binnall
In an odd story out of India, authorities arrested a pastor for allegedly convincing a woman to shell out a whopping $400,000 for a mysterious box that purportedly possessed the power to bring her good fortune. According to a local media report, the bizarre case began back in 2019 when Rev. Timothy Joshi befriended the unnamed victim after she started attending his New Life Church Ministry in the village of Kantibhita. However, their relationship took an unfortunate turn when the pastor revealed that he had received a divine message informing him that a box found on a nearby farm was magical and, as luck would have it, he had gotten his hands on the enchanted object, which he was now willing to sell to her.
Originally telling the woman that he would part with the box for a staggering $2.5 million, the pastor 'kindly' worked out an arrangement wherein the woman could pay for the magical container, which he promised would bring her untold wealth, over the next few years. Agreeing to the deal, the victim proceeded to give Joshi a jaw-dropping $400,000 towards eventually owning the enchanted box. The scheme reached something of a strange climax when the pastor set up a meeting between the woman and an individual who claimed to be a businessman willing to front the money for her as long as she provided a down payment of around $500,000.
Joshi and the 'businessman' went on to express concern over the need to make the transaction happen as soon as possible because, they claimed, authorities were hot on their trail in search of the magical box. The weird nature of the meeting apparently broke the pastor's proverbial spell over the woman, leading her to back out of the sale and ask for her money back. As one has likely surmised by now, Joshi and his accomplice managed to talk their way out of the situation and subsequently vanished with the victim's $400,000. By way of a lengthy investigation, police were eventually able to track down and arrest the pastor this past week and, adding insult to the woman's financial injury, determined that the magical box was simply "an empty container."