This week in Holy Crimes

[WillParkinson]

Over the last seven days...

This Week's Winner (though the others at the link were pretty damn close)
Indiana: Pastor Vaughn Reeves is on trial for orchestrating a multimillion dollar Ponzi scheme built around investments supposedly meant for church construction. Reeves and his three sons are accused of bilking more than 11,000 people by luring them into buying $120M worth of property bonds. Allegedly the four paid off early investors with the money of others while stealing millions for themselves to purchase mansions, luxury vehicles, and a plane. The pastor and his sons face over 40 felony counts of securities fraud.

http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2010/10/this-week-in-holy-crimes.html

[onager]

1. Thanks! Church-based "affinity scams" fascinate me.

A couple of fairly recent ones...

The Rev. Abraham Kennard, 46, was charged with bilking nearly $9 million from 1,600 churches in 41 states in just over a year.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/04/national/main671648.shtml


Mormons Become Victims in $50 Million Scam to Sell Gold Bullion (Sept. 2009): ...Jones, 55, a record producer in Marina del Rey, California, and his two partners had raised more than $50 million from 735 investors, which they said they were using to broker the sale to Arab buyers of 20,000 tons of gold owned by a group of Israelis. They promised to triple investors’ money -- if only Tri Energy could overcome some last-minute glitches.

"20,000 tons of gold" is more than TWICE the amount of the entire U.S. Gold Reserve - the largest reserve in the world (as the article points out).

Tri Energy’s investors had something in common. Many were Mormons and born-again Christians who shared dreams and prayers on nightly conference calls. They vowed to use the profits for charitable works and kept raising funds, at times taking out second mortgages, draining retirement accounts and recruiting relatives...

Ned Hill, a professor of business management and a former dean of the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah...says he confronted the power of belief over reason when he learned about 12DailyPro, an Internet advertising business being pitched to students at the Mormon-affiliated university that promised returns of 44 percent in 12 days.

When he sent an e-mail warning students it was a pyramid scheme, he says he received death threats from some investors, which he reported to university security officials. The SEC obtained a permanent injunction and shut it down in 2006.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_en&sid=an7Pm3hkmauw

[TZ]

2. I'm actually surprised this doesn't happen more often

the naivete of people when it comes to clergy shocks the hell out of me...I've literally had people tell me that a priest can do no wrong because they are a priest...Sorry, priests are still people and therefore weak and corruptible.

[realisticphish]

3. in fact

I would venture to say that it's conceivable for a priest/pastor to be BETTER at this, since they would potentially be better at the theological gymnastics required to justify some actions