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OTHER FRAUD
ADOPTION FRAUD
ADVERTISING FRAUD
COPYRIGHT FRAUD
DIPLOMA MILLS
DOOR TO DOOR FRAUD
GAMING FRAUD
HOME REPAIR FRAUD
MOVING FRAUD
PHONY DRIVER'S LICENSES
RELIGIOUS FRAUD
SATELLITE TV FRAUD
SWEEPSTAKES FRAUD
TRAVEL FRAUD
UTILITY FRAUD
VETERINARIAN FRAUD
WORK AT HOME FRAUD
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Religious Fraud
It is a fact of human nature that most people are quickest to trust "one of
their own." In too many cases, someone sitting in a church pew implicitly trusts
the person sitting right next to him. After all, if they are side by side in
prayer, why worry about doing business?
Tell that to the 11,000 investors who lost more than half a BILLION dollars to
the Southern Baptist Foundation in a scheme that went on for decades.
Or tell it to the members of Crossroads Church in Corona, California, who kissed
a combined $50 million goodbye.
Or those who lost $3 million to a real estate scam perpetrated on members of the
Daystar Assembly of God Church in Prattville, Alabama. (Members of the church
were promised that profits would go to build a megachurch, but all they got was
a megascam.)
Or tell it to the thousands who were defrauded of $500 million dollars by the
leaders of Tampa-based Greater Ministries International -- who claimed that
investments were blessed by the Lord.
It's not unusual for the con to begin with the fraudster making a sizeable
donation and weaseling his way into the inner circle. Then he gets the Pastor to
invest, and that swings open the doors to members of the congregation.
All denominations are at risk, but investigators will tell you that the most
susceptible communities are the ones with the most active members. If a church
has many service programs and small group prayer sessions, con artists can more
easily get close to and become friends with their fellow church goers. Sadly,
these one way friendships sometimes extend beyond the fraud. "Let's not report
Brother Bob to the police. We all know that he is too devout to do anything
dishonest, so this must have just been an unfortunate error."
Here's some websites:
Fraud
Discovery Institute
Trinity
Foundation
Securities Administrators Association |