Un gran jurado federal acusó a un hombre de Virginia por presuntamente engañar a una iglesia de Carolina del Norte y a sus miembros para invertir más de $740,000 en un lugar fraudulento de entretenimiento familiar con temas religiosos, dijo el Departamento de Justicia de EE. UU.
La Oficina del Fiscal Federal en Charlotte dijo en un comunicado de prensa que Michael Mandel Baldwin, de 52 años, de Alexandria, Virginia, hizo declaraciones fraudulentas a personas en la iglesia sobre “Miracle Mansion” y luego solicitó inversiones. Baldwin también hizo los reclamos a individuos y entidades en los EE. UU., incluso en Virginia, Arkansas, Florida y Georgia, según la acusación.
Como parte del esquema, dijeron los fiscales, Baldwin creó y distribuyó materiales promocionales a posibles inversionistas que describían a Miracle Mansion como “un complejo de entretenimiento único en su tipo” para la región de Washington, DC. “Proporcionaría una experiencia de artes escénicas de alta calidad que promueve la inspiración, el entretenimiento y el enriquecimiento centrados en la familia anclados en una cosmovisión bíblica”.
Además, Baldwin les dijo falsamente a posibles inversionistas que The Kennedy Center y ejecutivos de alto nivel en Hobby Lobby y Chick-Fil-A habían respaldado y apoyado a Miracle Mansion, según el comunicado de prensa.
balduino es acusado formalmente con fraude electrónico y fraude de valores. Cada acusación conlleva una pena de 20 años de prisión.
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9 Respuestas
We have a fair share of these pastors in North Carolina. Thank you for keeping me up to date!
In Canada they would do nothing. We invested $500,000 in a
United Reformed Church of North America member’s business and the couple refused to repay us.
We asked their church leaders for help to which they replied “How a our members conduct themselves in business is not their jurisdiction.” This is the church leadership of today.
As a Libertarian, I am not in favor of these “buyer’s remorse” prosecutions. Nobody puts a gun to your head and forces you to make a risky investment. Big Brother is not there to be your avenger because you made a foolhardy financial choice. Let the market reign.
Theft of one’s property is against the 8th commandment. Even Libertarians should know that no thief will enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jack Van Halteren,
Adultery, gossip, homosexual sex, drunkenness are all unbiblical too–do you propose the feds arrest every person who has ever done those things?
Brian Patricio,
One of the duties of the church is to discipline people who attend their church when they sin.
Jack Van Halteren,
You just said it–one of the duties OF THE CHURCH. It’s not Uncle Sam’s job to be the personal avenger of folks who bought into get-rich-quick schemes. I agree with Susan Jones below–why does a body of Christ have any business investing in amusement parks to begin with?
If you want to see the people start making wiser financial choices, get the feds out of regulating consensual choices.
As someone who works in wealth management, I agree. If your church has extra money lying around (was it PPP money??) to invest in a theme park, there is something wrong with your church. Churches having these “endowments” is one of the reasons I tell families again and again and again to designate gifts you want the church to receive after a loved one dies. If not, the funds will never get used for anything of purpose and will build up in a kitty that someone at the church will keep their iron first around it even if the roof is leaking. Trust me. I’ve been on both sides of the issue and those fingers rarely let go of the money.
Back to the church……the fact that they didn’t look into the deal or the person is THEIR fault. No one elses.
Tell that to the Christian Nationalists and MAGA fans…