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.
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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.”
Alleged Church Ponzi Schemer Arrested on Federal Fraud Charges - ABC News
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