Posted on 04/12/2008 12:31:12 PM PDT by Choose Ye This Day
Federal prosecutors have charged the former pastor of a church damaged by Hurricane Katrina with diverting thousands of dollars in private donations and public flood relief money to his private bank account.
The U.S. attorney’s office said it filed a bill of information charging Noah A. Thomas Jr., former pastor of Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, with a single count of mail fraud. He led the church until October 2006, authorities said.
Thomas was unavailable for comment.
Prosecutors said the church applied for a donation from the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, a private philanthropy headed by the two ex-presidents. The church also applied for a Small Business Administration rebuilding loan, they said.
The Bush-Clinton Fund donated $35,000 to the church, and the SBA approved a rebuilding loan of $252,000, prosecutors said.
Thomas opened a new bank account over which he had sole control and deposited into it the $35,000 from the Bush-Clinton fund, as well as the first installment of $10,000 from the SBA, prosecutors said. His purpose was “to conceal the award of those funds and to illegally use the money for his own personal benefit,” according to the bill of information filed with the court.
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at baptiststandard.com ...
It’s that good ol’ sense of entitlement, speaking loud and clear.
I always thought it was Moses who parted the Red Tape not Noah!
Another official who is helping keep the people down while getting rich.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-28/1207805564142670.xml&coll=1
A pastor named Noah, committing fraud to receive flood relief? How ironic, and what a sad commentary upon the corruption of our times.
And why should the Small Business Administration be loaning money to rebuild this church...oh, wait the church was just a business with a hired hand running it. Obviously.
Old news. Did a google search on the guy and he has pled “guilty” to one count of mail fraud.
No, I didn’t realize that. The source I posted from just recently reported on the charges being filed. Good job finding the update! I’ll post it here.
Guy pled guilty:
A former New Orleans pastor Wednesday pleaded guilty in federal court to bilking his congregation of thousands of dollars through several schemes after Hurricane Katrina and could spend two decades in prison.
Noah A. Thomas Jr., 42, of Marrero, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud before District Court Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt and is expected to be sentenced in July. Mail fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and three years of parole.
Thomas, who was pastor of Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church on South Liberty Street until October 2006, admitted to stealing a $35,000 federal grant intended for the church, and then stealing $10,000 from a $252,000 loan the church received from the Small Business Administration, according to Kathy English, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.
Thomas also admitted he received nearly $13,000 in kickbacks from a furniture company for pretending that the company delivered items to the church that it did not.
The church qualified for the money because it was damaged during Hurricane Katrina.
In a news release, English said Thomas got federal officials to deposit money into bank accounts that he controlled and then used that money for his personal benefit, including purchasing a new SUV for himself.
In addition, Thomas obtained a $39,327 loan from ACI Financial Inc. without the knowledge of church officials and then cut a side deal with a company that provides furniture and church accessories. That company paid Thomas nearly $13,000 to pretend that all of the items requested by the church had been delivered so that ACI Financial would pay the vendor.
I guess the Texas Baptist Standard is a little slow on the draw.
Texas Baptist Standard appears to be published on the web every two weeks, and this is the off week. Probably gets read by interested folks who don’t watch a lot of news or spend time on FR.
Irrespective of what Dennis Prager thinks, that is an imperfect organization, has always been so, and is the fodder for a whole other thread.
There is no filter between God and the people. We have prayer, we have the Bible, we have Jesus who intercedes for us with God.
What more could anyone need. Ministers are wonderful - but each person should verify with the Bible the truth of what is taught.
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