*A Southern Maryland pastor who amassed millions in wealth has been sentenced to more than two years in prison for hiding church assets and failing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, reports ChristianPost.com.
Robert J. Freeman of Save the Seed Ministry in Waldorf, Md., bought luxury cars, had a $1.75 million home, two four-car garages and a jet-ski lift, but on Monday prosecutors in Greenbelt concluded that he had taken money from his congregation to afford all of this property.
“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,” said Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein in a statement, The Washington Post reported.
The 56-year-old pastor, who was also known by the nickname “Dr. Shine,” admitted that he lied during bankruptcy proceedings and has taken responsibility for his actions, although he claimed his church members were well aware what the ministry’s money was going toward.
“I did all this publicly,” Freeman told U.S. District Court Judge Roger W. Titus. “There wasn’t nothing shady about it.”
Read more at ChristianPost.com.
I’m not anti-religion at all and do understand that some of the money that churches receives does go to support the pastor. However, this guy is one of many out there that are of questionable ethics. I have a real problem with the religious leaders that ask their congregations for money and then appear with a new Bentley and other items that are worth more than some of the church’s members see in a year. Church was not meant to be a get rich quick scheme and exploiting people’s faith is just foul.
Questionable ethics? How about NO ethics! Or situational ethics, which, unfortunately, too many churches permit. This guy seems to have plenty of religion, but very little Christ.