Posted on 01/07/2010 1:23:14 PM PST by Colofornian
The man who swindled more than a million dollars from a Utah senior citizen is in prison tonight.
It's the conclusion to a 2-year investigation by KUTV’s Bill Gephardt.
Luella Day was set for life with more than a million dollars to her name; that is until she trusted a man from her Mormon Ward to invest her money for her.
Wednesday, that man, Daniel Merriman admitted he never invested the money. And now he's going to jail.
In Provo's fourth district court Merriman stood shackled before the judge.
He's pleading guilty to fraud for taking $1.2 Million from a fellow church goer.
Merriman promised to invest the money but he never did.
In 2006, Luella Day thought she was set for life, financially. She and her husband broke up their 17-acre highland farm donating 3 acres to the L.D.S. Church, where they build a ward house, keeping an acre for themselves, and selling 13 acres to a developer. That brought the couple more than a million dollars.
Luellea says Merriman first approached her at church and told her he could help her invest that money.
"I trusted him,” Luella says. “We were in the same ward and I just trusted him."
Luella gave it all to Merriman $1,222,000 promising to invest in treasury bonds. But the money vanished.
Now, rather than living comfortably as a millionaire, Luella relies on others to survive.
“People in the ward…are literally paying my utilities,” she says.
In 2006, Get Gephardt tracked down Daniel Merriman to his, then, new home in South Jordan.
“I'm just trying to find out what happened to Luella day's money," Gephardt says.
Merriman: “That's fine, I actually can't talk I'm on the phone right now but I'd be happy to answer that at a different time if you'd like to set up an appointment."
Gephardt: "No, you took $1.2 Million and I want to know what happened."
Merriman: "It was a loan and it was properly taken care of."
Properly taken car of? Not true, says Utah County Prosecutor Tim Taylor. After seeing my story, he investigated and charged Merriman with three felony counts of securities fraud to which Merriman pleaded guilty. And no one is saying where the money is.
"The money was placed into an account on September 1st and within 30 days it was gone," says Taylor.
Taylor says the money went to pay off other investors and pay off Merriman's personal credit cards. And, he told the court $500-thousand of it is still missing, wired to someone in Hong Kong.
Merriman's attorney, Sunny K. Olsen, says even his client doesn't know what happened to all the money.
“There is a portion of this money that is unaccounted for," Olsen says. “We want Miss Day to be repaid that money."
Daniel Merriman is in jail, now. He will be back in court February 17, 2010 for sentencing.
What’s the going rate for a fresh punk in Prison?
I hope he tithed it
“Man Who Defrauded Fellow Church Goer Pleads Guilty”
Man Who Defrauded Fellow MORMON Church Goer Pleads Guilty
fixed it.
So, I was figuring that this despicable act would prevent him from getting his own planet to be God over. Are you saying maybe he might still become a God?
AppyPappy: I hope he tithed it
He did. And he had a lot more than $1.2 million of ill-gotten gains to tithe on. The saga of Daniel Merriman continues....
Related threads:
Ex-Mormon Bishop Charged in $20M Ponzi Scheme
Merriman's church donations may be tainted [Mormon Ponzi schemer's tithe monies ill-gotten?]
LDS Church returned $200K in Southwick Tithing
The Arapahoe County investor, accused of bilking dozens of investors of up to $20 million, served as a Mormon bishop for five years, making tithing payments — composing 10 percent of his income — to the church, LDS officials acknowledged Thursday. So the Utah-based church could eventually find itself paying back Merriman's donations to his victims if the funds are ultimately deemed by a court to be "ill-gotten" or fraudulent gains, said church spokeswoman Kim Farah........There are other ways Merriman's scheme may have steered money toward the church. He used part of his proceeds to amass hundreds of works by Renaissance artists and works by Rembrandt, displaying them in churches or church-sponsored facilities. It's possible, some LDS members say, that his exhibits lured other donations to the church merely out of appreciation....
....Merriman was excommunicated by the church in March.
Welll...if he didn't tithe the money, it's doubtful. However if he did, or will catch up on his tithing, he can confess his sins to the ward congregation, fast, pray and most likely win his way back to "worthiness" soon.
I knew of men who went through this procedure for various lapses in their journey to the Celestial Kingdom.
Re my post #8....I knew excommunicated men who were reinstated after lapses on their journey to the Celestial Kingdom.
“People in the ward…are literally paying my utilities,” she says.
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Ummmm....what happened to the “fabulous” LDS church welfare system??? They are supposed to help people like this.
And, did Merriman pay tithes on the $$$?
Are you saying maybe he might still become a God?
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Oh yeah. Except for murder, excommunication is rarely permanent if they appear to be repentant.
And white collar crime is low on their hierarchy of sins.
I have known 4 or 5 excommunicated men (some who served jail time) who were re-instated.
Of course, he cannot apply to re-join until after he gets out of jail, IIRC.
Ping to #12, this may be a hiccup in his journey to Godhood but will not totally derail it.
I knew one guy who was happy to be re-baptized after he was excommunicated (adultery and he had to wait one year) because he said it would wash away any sins that he forgot or didn’t repent enough for.
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