Kenyan police arrested Ezekiel Odero on Thursday over the "mass killing of his followers" and closed his New Life Prayer Center and Church, just days after the discovery of dozens of bodies linked to another church.
Odero, dressed in his signature all-white garb and clutching a Bible, was transferred from Malindi to the regional police headquarters in Mombasa for questioning.
A wealthy televangelist who draws huge crowds, his church south of the coastal town of Malindi can seat 40,000 people and comes complete with a hotel for followers "from across the globe."
"People crowd my church because I am the chosen one," he told the NTV news channel last December.
Odero claims that "holy" scraps of cloth sold at his mega-rallies can heal sickness.
Popularly known as Pastor Ezekiel, he is building a helipad, restaurant and an international school on his expansive church grounds.
Odero did not attend any theological school but spent years as an understudy and keyboard player at the church of renowned televangelist Pius Muiru in the coastal city of Mombasa.
Police have not connected him to Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, the alleged cult leader under investigation for the deaths of 98 people linked to his church also based in the coastal region.
The government has promised a crackdown on fringe denominations after the discovery of dozens of bodies in the last week on a property near Malindi belonging to Nthenge.
The self-styled preacher is accused of urging his followers to starve themselves to death as a path to God.
Most of those found in mass graves have been children, and police fear the death toll could rise as their search widens.
At least 22 people have been arrested over the gruesome saga so far.
Efforts to regulate Kenya's dizzying array of churches and ministries have failed in the past, despite high-profile incidents of cults and rogue pastors being involved in crime.
