Posted on 01/30/2006 10:40:23 AM PST by The Lumster
On eve of fraud trial, Christian investors say they were betrayed
When Gregory Setser's import empire came crashing down two years ago, little was left to pay back hundreds of investors and church groups who funded his International Product Investment Corp. with at least $160 million.
Big-name evangelists and everyday churchgoers are among those who were invited to invest in a plan to import cheap, foreign-made goods for pre-arranged sales to retailers like Garden Ridge, Kmart, Michaels and Pier 1.
But what remained after the Securities and Exchange Commission shut the company down serves as testament to the lavish California lifestyle of Mr. Setser, a former Canton, Texas, ceramic merchant.
Paid for by thousands of evangelical Christians:
A 100-foot yacht moored off Mexico, a private plane and helicopter parked at a Los Angeles airport, and a quartet of well-furnished homes in nearby Rancho Cucamonga..........
Among those who may be called to testify are evangelists Benny Hinn of Irving, Fort Worth's Kenneth Copeland and Florida-based Reinhard Bonnke of Christ For All Nations. Authorities believe they were duped by IPIC's scheme when the company paid them "profits" that turned out to be money taken in from new investors. In a Ponzi scheme, money from new investors is used to pay off old investors.
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 2Peter 2:3
Perhaps Rev. Joel Osteen can buy that private plane for his wife's trips/temper tantrums.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1545925/posts
Why were these "good stewards" investing money in this guy's business? If they are truly religious non-profit organizations they had no business investing in a for-profit company. They deserve to go to jail as well. If they have that kind of cash available for investments, they should pay taxes on it.
The love of money is the root of all evil.
Read it, Benny Hinn. Learn it, Robert Schuller. Believe it, all you folks.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
I have read liberal troll posts, Undercover DU posts, Loserdopian posts, Independent posts but your's sir has got to be one of the single most incompetent posts ever made on FR.
The best part is what the preachers of the false gospel were buying with their money:
"50,000 liters of corn liquor made in the U.S. and stored in a Panamanian warehouse, but no liquor sales permit for Panama.
"7 million latex condoms from Brazil with a December 2004 expiration date."
You think "non-profits" should be allowed to "profit" tax free?
I remember a pastor in Oklahoma a few decades ago who bragged during a movie "Marjoe" that he and his wife were going to South America to visit their tobacco plantation. While he was gone, Marjoe fleeced the flock, and made a mockery of the Gospel with his movie.
""50,000 liters of corn liquor made in the U.S. and stored in a Panamanian warehouse, but no liquor sales permit for Panama.
"7 million latex condoms from Brazil with a December 2004 expiration date."
"
Hilarious. I mean, really. I don't suppose these televangelists were really aware of this stuff, but it's funny anyhow.
Please expound. Why do think it was incompetent?
Imagine that! I sure would like to see a more comprehensive list.
That's so directed at the church marketing bunch. (Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, etc. etc.)
It could not have happened to a more deserving group of investors. How do these people even sleep at night?
Why don't these "Christians" buy food and medicine for the poor, instead of trying to make quick money on a ponzi investment scheme?
Perhaps, I'll check out the site, thanks
The likely truth is that these individuals took money from their non-profit organizations, invested in this company for a get-rich-quick scheme to fill their own pockets, and got burned. People who donate to these people should get their heads examined.
And if TBN is sitting on a liquid $280 million, then why do they continually ask for more money?
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