The General Secretary of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa has been dismissed and stripped of his ministerial title.
According to Islands Business, Reverend Dr Afereti Uili is believed to have been dismissed by church elders on Tuesday night.
While the reasons for his dismissal remain sketchy, Uili is understood to have invoked the ire of elders by refusing to sign payments associated with renovations to the church headquarters in Apia.
Uili confirmed his removal to close friends and alleged that a group of senior church members had plotted his downfall for several months.
It is understood that Uili refused to endorse payments to contractors because after they produced invoices for work which had not been completed.
In December the Board of Trustees of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa filed a $300,000 (US$116,000) lawsuit in the Supreme Court against a local newspaper.
The action came after the Samoa Today Newspaper published allegations against Uili.