Six years ago, mega pastor Bishop Eddie Long told his New Birth congregation their life was about to change. He was right, but it wouldn’t be for the better.
After the leader introduced a financial scam artist to his members as “My friend, my brother, the great Ephren Taylor,” some immediately believed in the self-proclaimed millionaire speaker’s pitch to their own detriment.
Taylor wasted no time building high hopes even higher. “We’re going to show you how to get wealth and use it for the building of His Kingdom,” he claimed.
The crooked, yet convincing con was building a kingdom alright, but it wasn’t God’s.
He and his wife Meshelle Taylor, an aspiring pop singer, blew through millions of dollars in stolen money—a crime which is coming back to haunt the husband and wife.
The US Attorney’s office in Atlanta said Mr. Taylor, former CEO of City Capital Corporation and his then COO Wendy Connor, defrauded investors nationwide of a combined total of more than $5 million.
Long’s New Birth Atlanta congregants alone lost approximately $1 million. Reports say 80 people from the state of Georgia were robbed of $2 million.
Taylor, the 31-year-old son of a preacher, was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 10, 2014.
How can you avoid getting caught in a web of lies like this that leads to financial ruin?
While some people assume that the church sanctuary is literally a sanctuary, which, by definition is a place of safety and refuge, many crimes happen right in God’s house. They forget that everyone that cries “Lord, Lord” isn’t really serving Him.
Rape, embezzlement, Ponzi schemes, abuse of power and even physical altercations have popped off behind the pulpit and in between the pews.
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SOURCE: EEW Magazine
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