I have no idea why people trust Pastors, when they always turn out to be crooks.
Especially, the megachurch ones.
Federal authorities have charged the pastor of a Texas megachurch and a Louisiana financial planner with defrauding elderly investors out of more than $1 million.
Kirbyjon Caldwell of Houston and Gregory Alan Smith of Shreveport were charged Friday with six counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering, as well as one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, the Justice Department said.
They’re accused of bilking 29 mostly elderly investors by selling them Chinese bonds issued before the revolution of 1949, saying that their historical value made them “worth tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars” according to a court document from the SEC. “In reality, the bonds were mere collectible memorabilia with no investment value.”
The SEC says the bonds have been in default since 1939, and the “current Chinese government refuses to recognize the debt.”
The ill-gotten funds were used to pay for personal expenses, including mortgage payments in the case of Caldwell and luxury automobiles in the case of Smith, it added.
The DOJ says they allegedly defrauded the investors out of more than $1 million. The SEC places that figure higher, at $3.4 million.
Caldwell has a Maybach and luxury home while selling junk bonds. He is looking at 20 years in jail.
What a time.