*Updated*Operator of Christian Non-Profited Indicted in Fraud
Jan 19 by Ingrid Schlueter
*Update*A reader wrote to correct me about my Iceland real estate remark. He was certain I meant Greenland and said that I was no doubt mixing them up as people do. I am happy to report that I meant exactly what I said. See link below.
It takes two sides to make a fraudulent financial scheme work—a criminal or criminals on the one side and greedy, simple-minded people on the other. The Arizona Republic reports on someone posing as a Christian who ripped off millions from older investors, promising them financial gain by investing in Christian causes. Go back and re-read that line again. The fusion of these two things was the beginning of the sorrows.
The vulture, Edward Purvis, was promising a 24% return on investments. Go back and read that line again. 24%. Get rich by funding a Christian ministry, he told people. What kind of an investment, other than a fraudulent one, would get you 24% return? If you believe that, I have a great real estate investment opportunity for you in Iceland right now. There are also some great projects going on in Nigeria you might want to sink some cash into…
The news has featured tearjerking stories in the last few years about people losing everything because of Nigerian money scammers. I personally know a man who lost it all because he believed that somebody really had deposited millions in a bank account in Africa just for him, and that all he needed to get it was to mortgage his house that he had paid for years ago and send the hundreds of thousands to a helpful intermediary in Lagos. Then the cash would flow like water into his American account. He knew all this because of some emails that said so. It was pure greed on his part. There was no other motivation, and it ruined him.
How many of these criminal schemes have to happen before people wake up? While it is certainly sad to see anyone ripped off, elderly people especially, it is time Christians stopped providing business for these criminal types. Anyone who eagerly comes to you with a portfolio promisng exotic returns for “investing in the Lord’s work” should be sent out the door, with the toe of your boot if necessasry.
