Church Investment Coach Faces Fraud Charges

A church investment coach has been accused of fraud amounting $5 million. Ephren Taylor, who calls himself a “socially conscious investor,” allegedly toured churches across the country between April 2009 and October 2010; he is under investigation for swindling Christians out of their money and claiming 20 percent of his profits would go to charity. 

In a video promoting his service Taylor said, “We’re going to show you how to get wealth and use it for the building of His kingdom.”

The official attorney’s report says, “The investments pushed by Taylor included investing in promissory notes, where the funds invested would be used to support small businesses, such as laundries, juice bars, and gas stations. Taylor is alleged to have falsely represented the revenues and returns for these businesses knowing that they were not profitable.”

“Taylor also pushed an investment in sweepstakes machines. Sweepstakes machines are computers loaded with various games that allow players to win cash prizes. Taylor published offering materials that falsely claimed the average sweepstakes machine would generate 300 percent investor returns. He also stated that the sweepstakes machine investments were 100 percent risk free.”

According to Christianity Today, Taylor was aware that investors would not see a return of their investments. Taylor was indicted on June 10 and remains under investigation by the IRS and Secret Service. 

Publication date: June 19, 2014