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A false missionary probably did not invest donations in the Holy Scriptures, but put them in his own pocket (symbolic image)

Photo: Tetra Images / Getty Images

For nearly a decade, a man from the U.S. state of Georgia posed as a missionary with a pious promise: he would raise funds for Bibles and other Christian literature and then distribute them in China. A whopping 33 million dollars are said to have been raised between 2010 and 2019, donated by Christian charities and private donors in the USA.

Then it turned out that the missionary probably did not invest the money in religious books – but in diamonds, gold, sports betting and real estate in South America, among other things. For this, he now has to answer to a federal district court in Georgia, as reported by the Washington Post.

The man is charged with wire fraud, money laundering and concealment of money laundering, among other charges. This emerges from the 20-page indictment, which the court has now published. The man committed a "serious breach of trust," prosecutor Jill Steinberg said in a court press release. If believers were to donate money to missionary causes, they would rightly expect that these funds would be faithfully managed.

Diamonds, Stocks, Real Estate, Sports Betting

According to the indictment, the missionary allegedly raised more than $30 million over the years, mostly in religious communities in Ohio and North Carolina. A single charity and its donors are said to have raised more than $22 million.

Then it turned out differently: According to the indictment, a considerable part of the money went into the man's own pocket. About one million dollars is said to have flowed into online sports betting, another into diamonds, gold and precious metals, as well as almost 200,000 dollars into stocks. He is also said to have invested around seven million dollars in a company that ran his family's farm. He is also said to have purchased real estate in Chile for about $320,000. The funds were forwarded to shell companies. In 2016, he even renounced his U.S. citizenship in order to circumvent reporting obligations on his finances.

If convicted, the man would face a prison sentence of up to 20 years and significant fines, among other things. Several arrest warrants had been issued against him, the court said. Currently, however, he is on the run.

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