nhboy
08-01-2012, 09:30 AM
Link to original article. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/2012/07/30/gJQABlQeLX_story.html?hpid=z5)
"Robert J. Freeman, a charismatic Southern Maryland pastor and longtime televangelist, drove fancy cars and lived in a $1.75 million home on the Potomac River that has five fireplaces, a jet-ski lift and two four-car garages. To finance that lifestyle, federal prosecutors said, Freeman turned to his followers to purchase the vehicles and waterfront property. Many, it turned out, could not afford it.
On Monday, Freeman, 56, who headed Save the Seed ministry in Waldorf, was sentenced to more than two years in prison in a related bankruptcy case. Prosecutors said he hid church assets to avoid paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in debts.
“Freeman lived a life of fraud and deception, using millions of dollars from church members, and fraudulently obtained credit to pay for luxury cars and a mansion while falsely representing in court that he was indigent,” Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein (http://www.justice.gov/usao/md/) said in a statement.
Freeman, who was known as “Dr. Shine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQDy1r45YC4),” said in court that he takes responsibility for lying during bankruptcy proceedings. But he said his congregation willingly funded purchases on behalf of the church."
.....
"Freeman directed church members to take out loans to purchase the cars, including a Bentley and a Maybach, and the mansion. When the church could not cover the bills, church members were on the hook for the debt and in some cases lost their homes and jobs.
Even after Freeman and his former wife, Claudette “Dee Dee” Freeman, filed for bankruptcy, federal prosecutors say he convinced a church member to lease or buy three more Mercedes Benzes and a Lincoln Navigator.
“The essence of this crime was taking advantage of unwitting people,” District Judge Roger W. Titus said before sentencing Freeman to 27 months in prison — six months more than prosecutors sought. Titus also ordered Freeman to pay more than $630,000 to four church members who took out loans to purchase the cars and mansion."
Dr. Shine & Dee Dee!:roflmao:
"Robert J. Freeman, a charismatic Southern Maryland pastor and longtime televangelist, drove fancy cars and lived in a $1.75 million home on the Potomac River that has five fireplaces, a jet-ski lift and two four-car garages. To finance that lifestyle, federal prosecutors said, Freeman turned to his followers to purchase the vehicles and waterfront property. Many, it turned out, could not afford it.
On Monday, Freeman, 56, who headed Save the Seed ministry in Waldorf, was sentenced to more than two years in prison in a related bankruptcy case. Prosecutors said he hid church assets to avoid paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in debts.
“Freeman lived a life of fraud and deception, using millions of dollars from church members, and fraudulently obtained credit to pay for luxury cars and a mansion while falsely representing in court that he was indigent,” Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein (http://www.justice.gov/usao/md/) said in a statement.
Freeman, who was known as “Dr. Shine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQDy1r45YC4),” said in court that he takes responsibility for lying during bankruptcy proceedings. But he said his congregation willingly funded purchases on behalf of the church."
.....
"Freeman directed church members to take out loans to purchase the cars, including a Bentley and a Maybach, and the mansion. When the church could not cover the bills, church members were on the hook for the debt and in some cases lost their homes and jobs.
Even after Freeman and his former wife, Claudette “Dee Dee” Freeman, filed for bankruptcy, federal prosecutors say he convinced a church member to lease or buy three more Mercedes Benzes and a Lincoln Navigator.
“The essence of this crime was taking advantage of unwitting people,” District Judge Roger W. Titus said before sentencing Freeman to 27 months in prison — six months more than prosecutors sought. Titus also ordered Freeman to pay more than $630,000 to four church members who took out loans to purchase the cars and mansion."
Dr. Shine & Dee Dee!:roflmao: