Operation 'False Prophet': Here's how authorities say church leaders fleeced their flock
The indictments against a 35-year-old House of Prayer Christian Church pastor over child sex crimes capped a flurry of charges this week against church leaders whom authorities say scammed millions of dollars in bogus veterans' benefits and tax refunds for years.
Bernadel Junior Semexant, 35, of Hinesville and Savannah, has been charged with enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity; sexual abuse of a minor; transfer of obscene material to a minor; receipt of child pornography; and possession of child pornography.
On Wednesday, feds swept through a seven-bedroom, $1.4 million mansion on Honors Way in Martinez occupied by a man known to authorities as HOPCC spiritual leader Rony Denis.
A 26-count indictment shows Denis atop a list of seven other defendants, listed below, with whom authorities say Denis conspired to commit bank fraud, wire fraud and tax fraud.
"The indictment alleges that members were manipulated into turning over personal information; pressured into marriages and divorces arranged by church leaders; and forced to live in properties tied to the defendants that generated rental income," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors also say the church pressured members to enroll in its in-house "Bible seminary," then "using their Veterans Administration benefits to funnel money into church-controlled accounts," the office said.
The seminary received more than $3 million in education benefits for its two Georgia locations and more than $23.5 million for all five locations.
"From 2013 through 2021, HOPBS officers fraudulently submitted false certifications to Georgia regulators that claimed the seminary did not receive federal funds, despite receiving millions in VA payments each year," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. "The scheme funneled funding from VA education benefits to its seminary and related church accounts, enriching the defendants while exhausting some veterans’ benefits, often without students completing their programs."
Then there's the bank fraud scheme, dating back years, prosecutors say. Church leaders would seize control of rental properties for their rental income. Between 2018 and 2020, the church collected $5.2 million.
"The defendants allegedly recruited members of their organization to serve as 'straw buyers' in real estate transactions, concealing the true buyers’ identities," the office said. "They falsified loan applications and closing documents, used forged powers of attorney, and created limited-liability corporations to acquire and transfer properties."
https://www.augustachronicle.com/story/n...099722007/
The indictments against a 35-year-old House of Prayer Christian Church pastor over child sex crimes capped a flurry of charges this week against church leaders whom authorities say scammed millions of dollars in bogus veterans' benefits and tax refunds for years.
Bernadel Junior Semexant, 35, of Hinesville and Savannah, has been charged with enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity; sexual abuse of a minor; transfer of obscene material to a minor; receipt of child pornography; and possession of child pornography.
On Wednesday, feds swept through a seven-bedroom, $1.4 million mansion on Honors Way in Martinez occupied by a man known to authorities as HOPCC spiritual leader Rony Denis.
A 26-count indictment shows Denis atop a list of seven other defendants, listed below, with whom authorities say Denis conspired to commit bank fraud, wire fraud and tax fraud.
"The indictment alleges that members were manipulated into turning over personal information; pressured into marriages and divorces arranged by church leaders; and forced to live in properties tied to the defendants that generated rental income," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors also say the church pressured members to enroll in its in-house "Bible seminary," then "using their Veterans Administration benefits to funnel money into church-controlled accounts," the office said.
The seminary received more than $3 million in education benefits for its two Georgia locations and more than $23.5 million for all five locations.
"From 2013 through 2021, HOPBS officers fraudulently submitted false certifications to Georgia regulators that claimed the seminary did not receive federal funds, despite receiving millions in VA payments each year," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. "The scheme funneled funding from VA education benefits to its seminary and related church accounts, enriching the defendants while exhausting some veterans’ benefits, often without students completing their programs."
Then there's the bank fraud scheme, dating back years, prosecutors say. Church leaders would seize control of rental properties for their rental income. Between 2018 and 2020, the church collected $5.2 million.
"The defendants allegedly recruited members of their organization to serve as 'straw buyers' in real estate transactions, concealing the true buyers’ identities," the office said. "They falsified loan applications and closing documents, used forged powers of attorney, and created limited-liability corporations to acquire and transfer properties."
https://www.augustachronicle.com/story/n...099722007/
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
