DA: Pastor, wife gambled away $430,000 from Houston church
http://www.khou.com/home/DA-Pastor-wife-gambled-away-430000-from-Houston-church---160073565.html
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 6:00 PM
Updated Monday, Jun 25 at
12:08 PM
Charles Gilford, 58, and Adriane Gilford, 53, were indicted Wednesday by a Harris County grand jury and charged with aggregate theft and "misapplication of fiduciary property."
Prosecutors allege the Gilfords used at least $430,000 in church funds to gamble at the Coushatta Casino near Lake Charles between 2004 and 2007. They were pastor and first lady of Bethel Institutional Missionary Baptist Church (BIMBC) on Selinsky Road in southeast Houston at the time.
"Over that three-year period of time as fiduciaries there, they were able to take that total of $430,000 from that little Baptist church," said Amy McCauley with the white collar crimes section of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
At that little Baptist church, a fixture in this neighborhood for decades, the current leadership told us they didn’t want to comment on the case. The Gilford’s left BIMBC five years ago.
But close friends say they have trouble believing the couple would steal from their congregation.
"And when I tell you impeccable people, outstanding people willing to help, I just, this is a little bit too much for me," said friend Regina Davis when she learned about the arrests.
"It doesn’t make sense," added her son Freddie Davis. "As far as I know, they are really genuine people, both pastor Gilford and sister Gilford. They have been courteous and amazing over the years."
But after pouring over boxes and boxes of financial records, prosecutors convinced a grand jury to indict the pair on charges that carry anywhere from 5 years to life in prison.
Adriane Gilford was also arrested by Pearland police in 2010 on a felony charge of writing bad checks in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. She and her husband lived in Pearland at the time.
Charles and Adriane Gilford are each held on $800,000 bail in the Harris County Jail. They are due in court on Monday.
Ephren Taylor Charged By SEC With $11 Million Ponzi Schem
Posted: May 8, 2012
At the New Birth Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, Taylor walked into the pulpit and accepted the microphone from pastor Eddie Long, who had just introduced him to the Sunday morning crowd of churchgoers, and stated:
“Everything he says is based on the word of God. We’re going to show you how to get wealth and use it for the building of his kingdom.”
With compelling sermon-like pitches intended to sway churchgoers into investing into fictitious business ventures and introductions from powerful pastors, alleged scam artist Ephren Taylor managed to peddle his Ponzi scheme in at least 40 states.
Taylor first gained notoriety as his rags to riches story received national attention. The now 29-year-old African-American grew up in poverty in Blackwater, Mississippi. He eventually developed a video game which turned him into a millionaire while still a teenager. He told ABC News in an interview back in 1997 that he was worth an estimated, “20 million on a bad day.”
A private investor, Lillian Wells, was scammed of her life savings after hearing Taylor speak at New Birth. He told Wells that her money would be invested in a venture called City Capital Corporation which was turning around homes in inner cities. In exchange for her life savings, the shady financial adviser claimed she would receive a 20% return on her investment. In regards to how she was swindled, Wells stated:
“He quoted scriptures.”
When Wells attempted to pull the initial capital invested into the venture out, Taylor simply disappeared. She was quoted having said:
“I couldn’t get a hold of anybody. You just can’t get them. That’s it. You just couldn’t get anybody.”
Wells, now struggling like many of the victims of Taylor’s more than $11 million Ponzi scheme, is now trying to prevent her home from going into foreclosure. She has indicated that she’s unsure on whether or not she will ever get her money back, however, she would like to see the con artist held accountable for his deception.
What are your thoughts on Ephren Taylor’s Ponzi scheme?
Pastor Sentenced to 40 Months in Prison for Ponzi Scheme
Took $1.8 Million from 24 Victims, Claimed He was Investing
for Quick Returns
|
U.S. Attorney’s Office April 27, 2012
|
|
According to the plea agreement and charges filed in the case, between 2003 and April 2011, Morris convinced various investors to provide him money based on false and fraudulent representations. Morris told various investors that their money would be placed in an overseas trading program or used to invest in property for his church. Morris represented that the investments would provide a high rate of return in a short period of time. Morris promised to return investor money in as little as a few days or a few weeks, with returns of as much as 400 percent. All these representations were false, and, in fact, Morris simply used the funds from later investors to pay off earlier investors. Some of the money went for Morris’ expenses and for the expenses of his church. In one 2007 instance described in the plea agreement, a victim provided Morris with a $30,000 loan for investment purposes on the promise that Morris would repay him, with interest, in 30 days. Despite repeated promises, the money was never repaid.
In asking for a four-year prison term, prosecutors noted that Morris betrayed those who trusted him. “...[I]n dealing with the defendant, they were dealing with someone they believed they could trust. The defendant preyed on those least likely to suspect him, demand collateral, and seek other assurances present in arms-length business transactions. Moreover, in several cases the defendant falsely represented that the funds solicited were intended to benefit church-related purposes,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.
The case was investigated by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Carl Blackstone and Matthew Diggs.
For additional information, please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110 or Emily.Langlie@USDOJ.Gov; or contact Dan Wardlaw, PIO for IRS-CI, at (360) 696-7647 (ext.3).
Prophets, Not Profits
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303425504577354161756441588.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
- AL'S EMPORIUM
- April 21, 2012, 8:25 p.m. ET
Every so often, he raises up a prophet to teach wayward profiteers about the sacrifice he demands.
Ephren W. Taylor II, who called himself "the Social Capitalist," may be one such prophet.
This son of a preacherman sold investment schemes at megachurches from Bishop Eddie Long's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church near Atlanta to Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston. The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged Mr. Taylor with running a Ponzi scheme. His victims are now congregating in a class-action lawsuit. (Read more about Mr. Taylor on my blog, tellittoal.com.)
"There's more fraud in the name of God than anything else," says Ole Anthony, president of the Trinity Foundation, which has been investigating religious fraud since 1987.
Fleeced flocks have long herded onto the victim hotline Trinity provides, their finances and their faith sheared. "It's so incredibly damaging," says Mr. Anthony, who has made plenty of enemies among members of his faith and even been accused of running his own cult.
Every religion provides fertile fields for fraud. The SEC also recently charged an alleged Ponzi schemer targeting Persian Jews.
But the "Prosperity Gospel" has made Christians especially vulnerable. Plant a seed, reap a harvest: Many preachers and televangelists promise a hundred-fold blessing for every dollar donated to them—something not even the Prince of Darkness, Bernie Madoff, had dared.
"It's totally infected American churches," Mr. Anthony says. "But the saddest thing is that with satellite TV it's infecting the poorest parts of the world. People who barely have enough to eat see their pastor flying in a jet and living in a mansion. And if they don't get it, it's because they have secret sin in their lives. It's always the victims' fault."
Anyone peddling insurance, real estate, sales opportunities or investments at church has probably not read the Bible. Anyone preaching wealth and prosperity is twisting its verses for a quick buck and making a mockery of their faith.
I have taken the liberty of actually reading the Bible throughout my life for those who will not. Here's what it says: Love of money is the root of all evil. Blessed are the poor. Store your treasure in heaven. Give to Caesar what is Caesar's. Hand over your possessions to the poor and follow. Love your enemy. Turn the other cheek. Don't lie. Don't cheat. Don't steal. Don't hit up your neighbor's wife. And my favorite: It is easier to shove a Fat Cat through the eye of a needle than it is for a camel to go to heaven—or something like that.
Jesus was not a capitalist. When he turned water into wine, he did not open a liquor store. When he multiplied loaves and fishes, he did not establish Wal-Mart. When he miraculously healed the sick, he did not bill Medicare or start an HMO. Somehow, profiting richly from the sick and infirm was considered unjust back in those days.
He worked as a humble carpenter, an itinerant preacher and sometimes helped fishermen for free. The only business transaction he was ever reported to have completed was taking a whip to money-changers for turning his Father's house into "a den of thieves." In the end, he took up his cross and demanded his followers do the same.
"The central message of Christianity is giving your life away," says Mr. Anthony. "I live on $55 a week, plus room and board." If that sounds too much like socialism, there's always another temple where everyone is free to worship. It has even more Ponzi schemes, and a really convenient address, too: Wall Street.
Bishop Eddie Long Lawsuit: Church Members Sue Minister After Losing $1M
By Nicola Menzie ,
Christian Post Reporter
October 20, 2011|7:24 am
Ten members of Bishop Eddie Long's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, have filed a civil suit against the megachurch pastor for allegedly using his influence to force them into investing in a million-dollar Ponzi, or pyramid, scheme.
Instead of getting returns on their investments, claimants allege that their money, totaling more than $1 million, was instead diverted to a failing company.
Long and New Birth Missionary Baptist Church are reportedly listed as defendants in the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in DeKalb County State Court.
WSJ's Kelly Greene reports that the New Birth senior pastor and his church used their "confidential/fiduciary relationship" to "coerce" the 10 church members into investing with Ephren Taylor Jr., the former chief executive of City Capital Corp. in Chicago.
The complaint reportedly cites Long as telling the congregation during Taylor's visit that he was "responsible for everyone" he brought before church members and for "what they say." Long and New Birth allegedly were paid by Taylor.
Long's spokesman, Art Franklin, told WSJ that the New Birth Missionary Baptist minister has already asked Taylor "to do the right thing by quickly resolving this matter with a positive outcome."
Earlier this year, Long was shown in a YouTube video asking City Capital and Taylor to "do what's right" and refund money that was invested by members of his Atlanta-based church. Long said the money was not returned after the investments went "sour."
Asking members of his 25,000-strong congregation to back his appeal, Long said to Taylor, "You’re a great man ... Let’s settle this so that these families can move on."
Taylor responded to Long's claims in February, calling them a "direct character assassination." He asserted that he has been in cooperation with the City Capital's legal team even after his departure as the CEO and has helped to ensure that investors at New Birth each received a resolution package to resolve any outstanding issues.
He also noted that Long and his church received "a percentage of product sales."
According to the WSJ, the civil lawsuit filed against Long and New Birth Missionary Baptist Church is "one of the highest-profile accusations to date of so-called religious affinity fraud, in which potential investors are targeted through a faith-based
organization."
Joseph Borg, a securities commissioner in Alabama, told the WSJ, "I've seen more money stolen in the name of God than any other way."
Borg noted that 70 percent of his cases involve the type of fraud Long and his church are being accused of, and that nearly half of those cases, when in the South, "have a religious angle."
According to a guide book highlighting affinity fraud, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission describes the term as "investment scams that prey upon members of identifiable groups, often religious or ethnic communities."
SEC adds that affinity fraudsters "often enlist respected community or religious leaders from within the group to spread the word about the scheme, by convincing those people that a fraudulent investment is legitimate and worthwhile. Many times, those leaders become unwitting victims of the fraudster's ruse."
The Securities and Exchange Commission highlights on its website dozens of cases involving Christians, African-Americans, Latino-Americans, the elderly and disabled and others being cheated through affinity scams.
Long, linked to the Word of Faith "prosperity gospel" movement, often encourages the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church congregation to "be fruitful, multiply, replenish, subdue, rule and take dominion."
This current lawsuit is just the latest in a string of legal battles for Long, who in late September, requested repayment of settlement money from three men who have accused him of abusing his spiritual authority to lure them into sexual relationships.
Long has also come to the defense of a former security guard accused in a burglary at the church and has also recently settled in a case involving default of a loan.
In early September, Long told the DeKalb County District Attorney's Office to dismiss burglary charges against Anthony Boyd, a former New Birth security guard who was also among three young men accused of stealing about $100,000 worth of jewelry and electronics from the church in 2010, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Not long after, the Baptist minister reached a settlement in a property lawsuit over a default on a $2 million loan he took out in August 2007 to buy a local gymnasium.
Most recently, Long has said that he wants back some of the settlement money he gave Jamal Parris, Spencer LeGrande and Centino Kemp, who have all accused him of abusing his spiritual authority to engage them in sexual acts. The settlement had a confidentiality agreement, which Long's attorneys say the young men violated when they spoke publicly about the allegations. Long was reportedly seeking at least $900,000 in repayment from the young men.
Eddie Long Scandal: Minister Seeks to Recoup Settlement Money
By Nicola Menzie ,
Christian Post Reporter
October 1, 2011|7:57 am
Three of the young men who accused New Missionary Baptist Church minister Eddie Long of sexual coercion may have to pay back nearly $1 million of their settlement money, it has been reported Friday.
In letters sent to Parris, LeGrande, and Kemp, Long and his attorneys informed the trio that New Birth pastor intends to seek to recoup money from the settlement, the full amount of which has not been made public.
The legal team representing Long is seeking at least $900,000 already paid to the three accusers, according to people involved in the settlement but not authorized to speak publicly, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. That figure is a portion of the total settlement with the three men.
Calculating that the $900,000 figure is simply a portion paid to Parris, LeGrande and Kemp, the Atlanta publication estimates that the settlement cost Long at least $1.5 million.
Long was accused in a lawsuit filed last September of using church funds on gifts and trips for the men while having sexual relations with them. The men, who all attended New Birth Missionary Baptist church, were in their late teens at the time.
Kemp, 22, revealed Sept. 14 that he had written a book about his affair with the megachurch pastor, titling the work The First Lady.
Kemp described the book as a story of "love, lust, power, extravagant living and travel, betrayal, deceit, rape, down-low homosexual lifestyle, molestation, church corruption, secret societies, suicide attempts and religion."
Parrish and LeGrande, both of whom used to attend New Birth's LongFellows Youth Academy and whom Long had selected to mentor, broke their silence in late August.
The two men revealed that they were also planning to release a tell-all book, which they described as more of therapeutic venture.
"I don't care if this book sells one copy. But if it's just for me, this is what my life looked like, this is my voice for the first time," Parris told WSB-TV.
Long has denied all allegations of sexual abuse and also denied using funds from New Birth Missionary Baptist Church to entice the boys with "cars, clothes, jewelry, and electronics," as the 2010 lawsuit alleged.
The Lithonia, Ga., minister issued a statement in late August saying he wanted to put the sexual allegations behind him and focus on what God wants to do through his church.
