Pastor at suburban West Palm church won't turn over $1.7 million - News - The Palm Beach Post - West Palm Beach, FL

The point is that this money doesn’t belong to the church. It belongs to the victims,,,

Calling it “God’s blessings,” the pastor of a suburban West Palm Beach church on Thursday refused to turn over $1.7 million that financial regulators claim rightfully belongs to people who were ensnared in a $30 million Ponzi scheme.

A federal judge has temporarily frozen the accounts of Winners Church and its top pastors, Fred and Whitney Shipman. In an unusual move, the father and son leaders of the 25-year-old Jog Road church are fighting efforts that would allow the money to be returned to hundreds of people who were lured into a far-flung diamond and bitcoin investment scam.
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Berlin isn’t claiming the 3,000-member church or the pastors were involved in the multilayered Ponzi scheme that she says was orchestrated by former church director Jose Aman and prominent Canadian financial commentator Harold Seigel. His son, Jonathan Seigel, was also involved in the scam that operated from offices on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, regulators claim.

However, Berlin noted that the church and the illicit businesses shared a financial secretary. Further, she said, Bishop Shipman received federal income tax forms from one of the businesses because some of the checks Aman sent him were listed as “commission” payments.

Pastor at suburban West Palm church won't turn over $1.7 million - News - The Palm Beach Post - West Palm Beach, FL