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ORANGE — The alleged Ponzi scheme that federal authorities say Gregory P. Loles perpetrated to defraud investors of millions of dollars appears to stretch beyond St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church to virtually every aspect of his life
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Detroit — One of Detroit’s oldest churches, victimized by an alleged Ponzi scheme, has had its prayers answered.
First Baptist Institutional Church, which found out earlier this summer that it needed $560,000 by Sept. 1 or it would go into foreclosure, has obtained a 15-year mortgage for that amount with National City Bank. The announcement was made during services Sunday.
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Redding police Sgt. Bruce Bonner said two financial crimes investigators are assigned to the case, which is still open. No criminal charges have been filed.
For nine months in 2007 and 2008, Souza raised more than $1 million from approximately 28 investors, including some in Arizona and Texas by claiming phenomenal skill in investing, which was tied to the “obvious favor of God,” SEC officials said.
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A western NY businessman is facing up to a 25-year prison sentence and a $50 million fine after admitting he orchestrated a multimillion dollar Ponzi scheme that targeted Catholics.
As about 150 of his victims looked on, 82-year-old Richard Piccoli pleaded guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion in U.S. District Court in Buffalo.
Read the Full Article at WN.com - Religion News
(AP) – INDIANAPOLIS – A former pastor and his sons charged with bilking church members nationwide out of millions of dollars pleaded not guilty Wednesday, the same day state officials announced increased penalties for such schemes. Prosecutors say Vaughn Reeves Sr., 65, and his three sons set up a company called Alanar Inc. and used it to dupe church members into a Ponzi scheme that played on their faith. They are accused of urging the members to purchase bonds to support church construction projects and using the money to buy themselves planes and sports cars. The alleged scheme is an example of what investigators call affinity fraud, where groups are targeted because of…
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(AP) – INDIANAPOLIS – A former pastor and his sons charged with bilking church members nationwide out of millions of dollars pleaded not guilty Wednesday, the same day state officials announced increased penalties for such schemes. Prosecutors say Vaughn Reeves Sr., 65, and his three sons set up a company called Alanar Inc. and used it to dupe church members into a Ponzi scheme that played on their faith. They are accused of urging the members to purchase bonds to support church construction projects and using the money to buy themselves planes and sports cars. The alleged scheme is an example of what investigators call affinity fraud, where groups are targeted because of…
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A mysterious mercy is helping the 100 Huntley Street television show stay on the air even though its most visible personalities have been forced by their board to “step down from their duties” until their names are cleared. Ron and Reynold Mainse, sons of founder David Mainse, invested money with Gordon Driver, who is accused of running a $14 million “affinity fraud” (Ponzi scheme). The board insists no ministry funds are involved, but the brothers could be in legal hot water if the courts determine they used their influence to attract more investors.
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(AP) – BUFFALO, N.Y. – An 82-year-old western New York businessman who targeted Catholics and retirees for a multimillion dollar Ponzi scheme pleaded guilty Monday to charges that will leave him penniless and likely in prison for the rest of his life. Richard Piccoli’s hearing in U.S. District Court in Buffalo had to be moved to a larger courtroom to accommodate 150 victims on hand to hear the plea, among them priests and nuns and other investors who considered Piccoli a friend. Investigators determined Piccoli took in more than $31 million between 2002 and early this year from a clientele gleaned largely through ads in Catholic newspapers and his membership in the Knights of Columbus, a…
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A western NY businessman is facing up to a 25-year prison sentence and a $50 million fine after admitting he orchestrated a multimillion dollar Ponzi scheme that targeted Catholics.
Read the Full Article at www.christianitytoday.com
As affinity fraud continues to victimize Christian churches and organizations, signs are emerging that more believers are demanding accountability and oversight.
But these efforts may be too late for victims who invested funds with suburban Phoenix resident Edward Purvis, indicted in January for allegedly running a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that promised riches while funding Christian causes. Or for Southwest Baptist University’s nursing college, which is investigating a $500,000 embezzlement case that surfaced in March.
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From billion-dollar ponzi schemes to bad mortgages and pay-to-play dealings by public officials, some are asking: Is there a crisis of ethics in America?
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Edward Purvis, the man who promised churchgoing investors in Arizona and 12 other states he could make them wealthy while funding Christian causes, was indicted Friday on 43 counts of fraud and theft.
Authorities accuse the 40-year-old Chandler man of operating a multimillion Ponzi-scheme through Nakami Chi Group Ministries International.
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Buffalo, Jan 9, 2009 / 05:44 pm (CNA).- An 82-year-old New York man has been charged with running a long-term Ponzi scheme targeted at Catholics, allegedly processing more than $16 million through a false mortgage company.
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AP – An 82-year-old businessman was charged Thursday with running a Ponzi scheme that took in at least $17 million from a clientele gleaned largely through ads in Catholic newspapers.
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What the authorities say happened to members of El Camino Church, a gray brick building wedged into a corner of Washington Heights, will not make financial history. No charities will have to close, no endowments will be eviscerated. Millions were not lost, let alone billions. –
The NY Times reports But when the cost is totaled, court papers and interviews suggest,
many of the worshipers at the tiny Christian Evangelical church will
have lost all or part of their savings in a Ponzi scheme that operated far beneath the orbit of the wealthy or well-connected.
Federal
prosecutors in Manhattan have charged that Bryant Rodriguez, 44,
insinuated himself into the congregation last year — he showed up first
for baptism classes — and enticed fellow churchgoers to trust their
money with him. Now, about $600,000 is gone in a scheme prosecutors
call a classic mold of financial grifting — neither sophisticated nor,
in hindsight, difficult to see through.
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U.S. District Judge Michael Davis sentenced a Forest Lake minister to 15 years in prison for his role in a multimillion-dollar pyramid scheme Thursday, but he wasn’t happy about it. –
The Star Tribune [MN, USA] reports Davis, Minnesota’s chief federal judge, upbraided the U.S. Justice
Department for its handling of a case in which Neulan Midkiff, the
minister, will serve more time than the fraud’s ringleader.
Terrence Correll, architect of the Ponzi scheme that bilked 519 people of up to $390 million, received a 12-year term.
Midkiff, 66, wept as he apologized for his part in the scheme, although
he said that he did not realize at the time he was committing fraud.