Alleged Church Ponzi Schemer Arrested on Federal Fraud Charges
Ephren Taylor,
once a financial adviser to congregants from some of the most prominent
mega-churches in the country, was arrested today on federal fraud
charges.
The Department of Justice announced in a news release that Taylor, 31,
was arrested on a federal indictment charging him and his business
partner with “defrauding investors across the country of more than $5
million.”
The charges allege that Taylor, the former CEO of City Capital
Corporation, and the company’s former COO Wendy Connor “participated in a
conspiracy to defraud investors” between April 2009 and October 2010,
and allegedly managed to defraud “hundreds” of people nationwide,
according to the DOJ.
Taylor surrendered to the U.S. Secret Service in Kansas City, Mo., this
morning following an arrangement with the agents handling the case. A
court date has yet to be announced.
His attorneys, Chris and Jane Bruno, declined to comment on their
client’s case other than to tell ABC News in a statement that, “Mr.
Taylor voluntarily surrendered to law enforcement immediately upon
learning of the indictment and he is anxious to address the pending
charges.”
Taylor’s arrest comes over two years after ABC News first aired an investigation
into his lifestyle and his “Building Wealth Tour,” in which Taylor
crisscrossed the country touting wealth management seminars and
followed-up with private meetings with interested investors.
Some congregants from some of the most prominent mega-churches,
including Bishop Eddie Long’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in
Lithonia, Ga., and Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Texas, turned over
their life savings to Taylor. The DOJ claims that more than 80 people
from Georgia alone "lost more than $2 million because of Taylor’s
scheme."
New Birth told ABC News in a statement today, “It has always been our
prayer for a resolution to this matter in which many lost their
investments. Our hearts go out to anyone who suffered losses, and we
pray for healing.”
The DOJ alleges that Taylor pushed churchgoers to invest in small
businesses he knew wouldn’t be profitable, and made up revenue numbers.
The agency also claims that Taylor pushed people to invest in “100
percent risk free” sweepstakes machines, or computers with games where
players can win cash prizes.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has been looking into Taylor for years and entered a judgment against him in 2013,
ordering him to pay back $14 million owed to investors, including
interest and fees. The SEC claimed Taylor spent his investors' money on
his car payments, credit card bills and rent on a New York City
apartment.
The SEC also alleged that he doled out cash to pay for studio time for
the musical career of his wife, Meshelle, with the money that came
pouring in. The couple even made a splashy music video starring Meshelle
Taylor draped in white fur and diamonds. The name of the song was
"Billionaire."
Taylor first gained national attention with a rags-to-riches story of
growing up dirt poor in Blackwater, Miss., before developing a video
game that he said turned him into a teenage millionaire.
In a 2007 interview with ABC News, when asked how much he was worth, Taylor said, “Maybe $20 million on a bad day."
His personal history, coupled with what he claimed was a philosophy of
"socially conscious investing," made him popular with church
congregations.
Alleged Church Ponzi Schemer Arrested on Federal Fraud Charges
Lillian Wells, who met privately with Taylor in 2009 after hearing him
speak at New Birth told ABC News in an interview last year that Taylor
convinced her to invest her entire life savings in a North
Carolina-based real estate venture, which he claimed was turning around
homes in inner cities. In exchange, she said she was promised a 20
percent return on her money.
But, Wells said, when she wanted to recoup her initial investment,
Taylor disappeared. Wells said she was forced to file for bankruptcy in
September 2012.
Lisa Conway also became suspicious of Taylor after she went to work for
him in 2010, but then she started to think that the money coming in was
lining Taylor's pockets. In an interview with ABC News in 2012, Conway
said investors began suspecting trouble as well. Panicked families began
banging down the doors of the North Carolina office where she and
Taylor worked, she said.
In Texas, Gary and Anita Dorio first met Taylor in Joel Osteen's
Lakewood Church, and later gave Taylor $1.3 million, their life savings
and her mother's retirement. And for about a year, they say it seemed
like a good deal. At the beginning, Taylor was sending them monthly
checks for $11,000.
The Dorios told ABC News in a previous interview that the paperwork
Taylor provided was very convincing. They thought they were investing in
an inner city laundromat, a juice bar and a gas station. But
ultimately, they said they discovered that many of the businesses they
thought they were investing in never even existed. In the end, the
Dorios did walk away with a rental property in Cleveland, but it came
with a catch: A $67,000 bill for back taxes on the property. The head
office of the businesses Taylor listed in their documents was nothing
more than a post office box inside a UPS store in Tennessee.
While the Dorios said they are still devout Christians, they have left
Lakewood Church. Anita Dorio acknowledged that the church was careful
not to explicitly endorse Taylor.
Lakewood Church told ABC News last year they opened their doors to
Taylor to speak on the subject of "Biblical financial principles," but
"when he began to promote his services as a financial adviser," he "was
stopped from doing so."
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