Idiot of the Week: Houston Megachurch Pastor Defrauds People Out of $1 Million

Credit: BOB LEVEY VIA GETTY IMAGES

This week's idiot is a criminal who hid behind his job as a pastor of a Houston megachurch to defraud and steal a million dollars from 29 elderly parishioners in a scheme to "invest." He used the money for himself.  Here's the story. 

MEGACHURCH PASTOR ACCUSED OF DEFRAUDING PEOPLE OUT OF MORE THAN $1 MILLION

Many of the investors who trusted Rev. Kirbyjon H. Caldwell were allegedly “vulnerable and elderly.” Rev. Kirbyjon H. Caldwell, the pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, is facing federal charges of defrauding investors out of more than $1 million using obsolete Chinese bonds.  

A federal grand jury has handed a 13-count indictment charging Caldwell and Gregory Alan Smith, a financial planner from Louisiana.  The SEC says that between April 2013 and August 2014, Caldwell and Smith allegedly convinced 29 people, many of them “vulnerable and elderly,” to invest more than $1 million in bonds issued by the former Republic of China. Instead of investing the funds, the defendants used them to pay personal loans, credit card balances, mortgages, vehicle purchases and other personal expenses.

Here's the link to the case: 

https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdla/pr/federal-grand-jury-indicts-shreveport-financial-planner-houston-pastor-defrauding 

 U.S. Attorneys » Western District of Louisiana » News

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Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Western District of Louisiana

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Federal grand jury indicts Shreveport financial planner, Houston pastor for defrauding investors out of more than $1 million

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced today that a federal grand jury returned a 13-count indictment charging a Shreveport financial planner and a pastor of a Houston church of bilking investors out more than $1 million.

Gregory Alan Smith, 55, of Shreveport, and Kirbyjon H. Caldwell, 64, of Houston, Texas, are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, six counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of money laundering. Additionally, Smith and Caldwell are charged in two separate counts of money laundering.