These are the men that went after Pastor Pat Bennie at Venice
Foursquare, after Pat began to expose financial corruption within several of
these relationships.
For over a year before they were found out, Pat and I regularly
talked about how it was a spirit that was seducing these leaders that had the
ability to focus entire denominations on anything there latest whim might call
for, instead of REALLY having a heart for LA and helping up root a major source
of demonic intrusion into our beloved LA.
No wonder we couldn't and can't get the things of the Lord on
the leaders radar, they have been blinded by the spirits they are suppose to
teach others how to have dominion over!
Begin forwarded message:
Subject: ponzi
[Foursquare] Executives at L.A.-based church
resign after losses in alleged investment scams
Item 6495 •
Posted: Fri, Mar. 19 2004 • Weblogged byReligionNewsBlog.com
Permalink to this article
Associated Press (USA), Mar. 18, 2004
LOS ANGELES – The president and treasurer of
a Pentecostal church resigned following the loss of $14 million in two
allegedly fraudulent investment schemes.
Paul Risser and the treasurer, Brent Morgan,
stepped down last week, said Ron Williams, spokesman for the International Church of
the Foursquare Gospel.
The Los Angeles-based church, founded in
1918 by evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, which claims more than 3 million
members worldwide. It earned about $250 million when it sold radio station
KFSG-FM in 2000. Risser invested $14 million of that money without approval
from the church board, Williams said Wednesday.
GOD DID NOT TELL THEM TO SELL THIS spirit-filled station over
the number on media influence city Hollywood. Haven't you noticed how Michael
Moore's film is affecting the election of our nation. Haven't you noticed how
Hollywood just threw an event to raise $5 million for John Kerry?
What god was the HEAD OF FOURSQUARE who makes decisions that 3
million blindly follow, listening to anyway-?? ?? ?? ?? MAMON?>>?
The money went to Financial Advisory
Consultants, Inc. of Lake Forest and Ontario-based IPIC International, he said.
Financial Advisory was operated by James
Paul Lewis, who is accused of bilking thousands of investors of more than $200
million by promising returns of up to 40 percent.
He has pleaded innocent to mail fraud and
money laundering charges and is being held without bail in Santa Ana.
Gregory Earl Setser, who operated IPIC
International, isaccused of bilking Christian ministries out of $160 million. Setser, of Rancho
Cucamonga, is free while awaiting trial in Texas on charges of securities fraud
and money laundering. He has pleaded innocent.
Williams said there was no evidence that
Risser, a minister for more than 40 years and the church's top executive since
1998, intended to personally benefit from the investments.
Vice President Jared Roth will serve as
interim president and finance director Jeffrey Bird will act as chief financial
officer and treasurer, Williams said.
[IPIC International] Misplaced faith stings
evangelists
Item 5164 •
Posted: Mon, Nov. 24 2003 • Weblogged byReligionNewsBlog.com
Permalink to this article
The Denver Post (USA), Nov. 23, 2003
(Column)
By Al Lewis
If you pledge enough money to Greenwood
Village-basedMarilyn Hickey Ministries, you will receive a vial of oil.
It's not just any oil. Marilyn and her
daughter, Sarah, have prayed over it with two more famous televangelists.
There's even a photo of this ritual on the group's website.
Research resources on Prosperity Teaching
"I asked BrotherOral Roberts and his son Richard
to join Sarah and me in believing God to place a 'MIRACLE OVERFLOW' anointing
into some special anointing oil," Marilyn Hickey explains on her website.
"NOW, the first thing we want to get into your hands is a personal
quantity of this very special anointing oil."
Running a television, publishing, teaching,
preaching and missionary empire is expensive. And sometimes even the creator of
the entire universe may seem a little short on cash. Recall that in 1987, Oral
Roberts said God would "take me home" if he did not raise $8 million.
Like Roberts, Hickey pursues a relentless
campaign for dollars. Two years ago, this quest led her to a man named Gregory
Earl Setser, 47, a businessman in Texas who turned out to be quite a fundraiser
himself. He claimed he was a former minister and promised miraculous investment
returns without risking principal.
Last week, Setser was in federal custody, charged with fraud. He was unavailable
for comment.
Hickey, through a spokesman, declined to
comment. The ministry issued statements explaining how it invested with Setser,
an alleged Ponzi scheme artist who prosecutors say duped several high-profile
evangelical ministries and their members out of $160 million.
"During the downturn in the economy,
the board was looking for investment opportunities and vehicles with greater
return to increase revenues for the work God has given us to do," the
group said.
Setser had received high recommendations
from Christian leaders, Hickey's ministry said. Other televangelists -
including the faith-healing Benny Hinn of Irving, Texas - believed in him, too. Hickey
ministries says it spent months investigating Setser, his companies and his
claims.
Somehow, Hickey's group did not learn that
in 1993 Setser received probation after pleading no contest to charges of theft
by check in Texas. Or that he filed for bankruptcy that year after the feds put
a tax lien on him. Or that in 1997, his bankruptcy petition was dismissed for
failure to make payments. In March 2002, Setser's firm, IPIC Investments,
forfeited its status as a Texas domestic corporation for not paying taxes.
Setser claimed to have sold billions of
dollars worth of goods to retailers such as Costco, J.C. Penney and Pier 1
Imports. His wife, Cynthia, 47, claimed to be working with President Bush's
family on a diamond mine in Congo. Somehow, Hickey's investigators never cut to
the heart of Setser's ungodly claims, which federal prosecutors in Dallas now
allege are complete fabrications.
Bank statements show that most of Setser's
transactions involved buying, not selling - to acquire things like homes, a
yacht and a helicopter, prosecutors allege.
Setser and several of his family members
were indicted and arrested in Dallas last week. The U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission filed a securities-fraud action against them as well.
Hickey's prepared statements make several
points: 1) Unlike others, the ministry made a "substantial profit"
from its investment. 2) Pastors Wallace and Marilyn Hickey invested personally
- no mention as to what was lost or gained. 3) Ministry board members invested,
but did not promote the schemes to the congregation. 4) The ministry has played
a role in helping prosecutors pursue Setser, and is a victim of his crime.
"We pray that the name of Christ will
not be tarnished as a result of this tragic situation," the ministry said.
Amen.