Forbes Magazine has investigated the connection between ‘Women of The City’ (WOTC) magazine and the controversial church SPAC Nation, which have formally been accused of exploiting its member for money and cases of coercion.

WOTC claims to promote women’s empowerment and has featured notable individuals like Conna Walker and Rochelle Humes.

Forbes uncovered several instances where the magazine accepted payments for features and sponsorships but failed to deliver on its promises. ntrepreneurs and fashion designers interviewed by Forbes collectively claim to have lost at least 154k to the publication.

Interviews with former SPAC Nation members and WOTC staff as well as internal documents and discussions suggest that Women of the City magazine was created and run by SPAC Nation pastors.

While Phadria Prendergast was the acting ‘face’ of the magazine, its key architect and founder appears is alleged to be her mentor and SPAC Nation pastor Mariam Mola, and according to seven sources who have direct knowledge of the church and publication.All former SPAC Nation members and WOTC workers  requested anonymity from Forbes, for fear of retaliation from the church.

Former CEO of WOTC Anais Bienvenu told the magazine “Mariam Mola has never worked for WOTC.”

But a representative for SPAC Nation told Forbes magazine that although Mola actually had no “official” role at WOTC, she was able to “help within her capacity a few of the women-led businesses in our community; one of which was WOTC.”

Bienvenu further claimed that WOTC received what they called ‘support’ from the church in the form of  “over 3 years and thousands of hours of unpaid work from its unpaid human resources (interns) which the church is still trying to figure out how to cover on our behalf.”

Founded in London in 2008 by Pastor Tobi Adegboyega, SPAC Nation has a 15-year history in which they have faced repeated allegations of fraudand financial exploitation in the U. press.