[Colofornian]

From the article: Affinity fraud among Latter-day Saints members has been common enough that the church leadership has issued periodic advisories about it...interviews...indicate there was a group whose fortunes were even more tied to Triton: members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons.

There's been so many that at least a half-dozen FR threads on financial fraud schemes occurring horizontally from one Lds member to another have popped up over the past year.

From the article: Today, Gordon also says she is paying the price for placing her trust in Barton. The widow said she remains stunned by her sudden reversal of fortune. "It was my income," she said. "Now, I have to get out and look for a job. I'm still numb."

[Traveler59]

Any investment fraud aways begins with gaining your trust. I feel sorry for their losses, but the old adage "anything too good to be true...". I don't feel the Mormons have cornered the market on investment fraud.

- Traveler

[Inkie]

How many financial frauds were NOT perpetrated by Mormons? I’ve heard the same bigoted remarks about Jews. Or, for that matter, conservatives.

Let’s get off of this track and agree that despicable people come from all creeds and colors.

[ApplegateRanch]

After Austin resident and financial adviser Derrich Pollock died in a plane crash in February 2007, many fellow congregants of Great Hills Baptist Church who had entrusted their money to him were shocked to learn they had been participating in what court documents called a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. Pollock reportedly liked to take friends for rides in his plane to show them where he communed with God.

What religion was Bernie Madoff?

Barney Frank/Mr. Raines/?

How about some of the others in recent pyramid/ponzi schemes?

Why is it relevant here, that there were "LDS ties", other than the LDS “leadership has issued periodic advisories about it...”?

The same thing happens in both religious and secular service organizations, charities, country clubs, and other groups; not just churches.

So again, why the emphasis on LDS, even though the article does speck to other groups? What is the (not so) hidden agenda?

[humblegunner]

Pollock reportedly liked to take friends for rides in his plane to show them where he communed with God.

Didn't Jody see something like that through his peeping-tom rock?

[dennisw]

My friends Filipino wife left Catholicism and joined an evangelical sect. He is upset since he is Catholic.

She is always falling for affinity scams. A constant steam of small hustles.

[thecodont]

I don’t think affinity hustles are restricted to any one denomination or religion.

[Cu Roi]

Well, on the upside, at least these investors seem to know when they've been had, unlike those chumps out there still waiting for their Dream Mine stock to shoot through the roof.

Seriously though, could that stake in Austin find itself in the crosshairs of Texas or Federal securities investigators for putting it's imprimatur on this guy? Does the stake leadership have any direct ties to Barton or his firm (i.e. conflicts of interest)?

[Does so]

New England "Christian Church" as well:

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8897

[Elsie]

"I should have just stopped and thought about it," she said.

If a person is gullible about MORMONism - they just might be gullible about other things.

[LomanBill]

 

 

"James P. Lewis, Jr. may have launched his con on a Sunday.  After all, he collected the seed money for one of the longest-running Ponzi schemes in U.S. history at [the Mormon] church."

[snip]

"To start, Lewis recruited people from his Mormon church in Southern California.  But over time, his con grew legs and expanded well beyond the confines of his community.  At the time of his arrest, Financial Advisory Consultants had about 3,300 clients who had invested $311 million on the promise of 40 percent returns.  A select group of these investors – the wealthier individuals who were less likely to withdraw their funds from his custody – actually saw returns. "

 

http://www.thehallofinfamy.org/inductees.php?action=detail&artist=james_lewis