Church Scam Targets Military Community for Nearly 20 Years
July 07, 2024
According to an investigation by Military.com, the House of Prayer, with locations in Washington State, Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas, has been scamming veterans for nearly 20 years. The church allegedly received millions from veteran’s paychecks, their GI Bill, their Veterans Affairs home loans, and disability pay. The money was used to finance lavish lifestyles.
A Military.com report detailing the years-long scam was recently released, indicating documentation was requested of the church, but not produced. Federal prosecutors say the church is stalling and needs to be held in contempt of court and fined. Prosecutors indicate this could be one of the biggest operational scams ever aimed at the military community. The House of Prayer locations, all located near Army bases, were raided in June of 2022.
Former church officials and members described to Military.com how the leadership pushed service members and veterans to give their benefits and pay. In some instances, they also allegedly applied pressure on its members to sever ties with their families, move into the church, or offer labor full-time without pay.
Recently, prosecutors filed a complaint in the Southern District of Georgia claiming the church is stonewalling their investigation and is not providing the documents it has been asked for on numerous occasions. In response, the House of Prayer suggests it does not have to release documentation based on Fifth Amendment grounds. Defense federal prosecutors indicate the Fifth Amendment has no legal ground.
The Fifth Amendment contains five constitutional rights:
- The right to indictment by the grand jury before any criminal charges for felonious crimes
- Prohibition on double jeopardy
- A right against forced self-incrimination
- A guarantee that all criminal defendants have a fair trial
- A guarantee that the government cannot seize private property without making due compensation at the market value of the property.
Prosecutors are asking for the names of all House of Prayer employees, owners, students, and all monies paid to the church.
Although the whole House of Prayer organization was interlinked and operated as a unit, the bible college they ran had no process in place to allow students to graduate with a certificate and there was no syllabus for alleged students who attended gatherings referred to as classes, but were church meetings.
The GI Bill was the source of revenue for the group and records show that since 2013 the organization collected $7 million from Veterans Affairs (VA). It has long been a concern that the GI Bill made it too easy for fake schools to run scams. The church organization is no longer eligible to access GI Bill funds. The investigation is ongoing.
If a veteran has difficulties seeking benefits, Legal Help For Veterans, PLLC is a nationwide VA Disability law firm assisting veterans and family members in all federal VA benefit matters.
Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC is a national practice representing veterans nationwide. They have helped veterans collect over $10,000,000 in future and retroactive benefits.