QUESTION: Did This UPC pastor Steal Money from the church?? you decide

[Old Paths]

Did anyone else notice....

Originally Posted by Thad

No criminal charges have been brought against David Thompson.

dmahoney@dispatch.com

I wonder WHY the district attorney did NOT pursue this?

Why a civil suit?

Is it because NO law was broken?


J/W

[CC1]

Originally Posted by Old Paths

Did anyone else notice....





I wonder WHY the district attorney did NOT pursue this?

Why a civil suit?

Is it because NO law was broken?


J/W

This can be a very grey area. Many times criminal charges are not filed unless the church wishes them to be.

It sounds like two things happened. The first was just bad judgement, a mistake if you will. That was this pastor investing church money in some kind of bad investment scheme. No laws broken there I can think of.

The second thing that happened and the thing that he could face criminal charges for his that he tried to compensate for the loss of money by taking out a second mortgage on the church without following the church bylaws.

The article was also a little fuzzy on him improperly using the church admins signature to get the loan. I couldn't tell if they meant he forged the guys signature or that he talked the guy into signing the mortage papers even though the bylaws had been violated.

Whether any criminal laws were broken if the article is true it is pretty clear that lying, unethical behaviour including violating the church bylaws, etc went on.

I think it is clear a case could be made civily that the church members were defrauded.

[Digging4Truth]

Originally Posted by Old Paths

Did anyone else notice....





I wonder WHY the district attorney did NOT pursue this?

Why a civil suit?

Is it because NO law was broken?


J/W

Well, from a legal standpoint, it is probably best to pursue it in this fashion.

Since he didn't benefit from the money himself (He says they lost it) it might be hard to say he actually stole it since stealing money usually enriches oneself.

He probably took the money hoping to glean the profits for himself (or possibly the church... who knows) and then return the money to the church and then.... in his eyes... no harm... no foul.

But all of that is circumstantial and assumptive.

[CC1]

If this is all true he will not be the first pastor who got suckered into bad investments.

Many times it is with good intentions of helping the church make a big return on it's money.

I didn't get the feeling anywhere in the article that this guy was trying to personally profit from his actions. Just made some really stupid mistakes in investing and then as happens many times the really bad stuff started when he tried to cover it up.

His dad ought to be ashamed for telling the church they should just shut up and forgive him, not seek to know what happened. Good grief!!

I love my kids but I have never understood these kinds of parents. I have told my kids from an early age that if they do the crime they are gonna do the time!

[Digging4Truth]

Originally Posted by CC1

If this is all true he will not be the first pastor who got suckered into bad investments.

Many times it is with good intentions of helping the church make a big return on it's money.

I didn't get the feeling anywhere in the article that this guy was trying to personally profit from his actions. Just made some really stupid mistakes in investing and then as happens many times the really bad stuff started when he tried to cover it up.

His dad ought to be ashamed for telling the church they should just shut up and forgive him, not seek to know what happened. Good grief!!

I love my kids but I have never understood these kinds of parents. I have told my kids from an early age that if they do the crime they are gonna do the time!

True

True

True

True

And...

Commendable.

[ChicagoPastor]

Originally Posted by Daniel Alicea

T ...

my father pastored a moderately sized church ....in NYC ... with over 350 members ...

Yet he was bi-vocational for over 15 years ... my mom worked her job to the day he died .... he never commanded more than 30k as a pastor.

A considerable amount of these men are squeezing their folks ... T ...

They have a distorted view of money and the effort people put in to attain it.

I believe this matter should not be handled in the courts but this man is accountable for his actions ...

Dan, your Dad was a special man, becuase that is not normal!

[Steve Epley]

I read about a preacher who has an upright reputation got involved in an investment deal he was not going to get a thing for himself but was going to get a wind fall for the church BUT it was a con scheme. Over $100,000 lost every cent the guy who took the money was indicted and the good pastor paid the money back to the church. Sometimes smart men can be conned. This man did what was right but his intentions were never bad. But his judgment was bad. I do not know this pastor in this story but it is sad for both the church and the pastor.

[Digging4Truth]

Originally Posted by ChicagoPastor

Dan, your Dad was a special man, becuase that is not normal!

Indeed that is not the norm... but it is commendable...

I think that it would be a good rule of thumb that the pastor hold himself to an amount around the median income of the church.

[Digging4Truth]

Originally Posted by Steve Epley

I read about a preacher who has an upright reputation got involved in an investment deal he was not going to get a thing for himself but was going to get a wind fall for the church BUT it was a con scheme. Over $100,000 lost every cent the guy who took the money was indicted and the good pastor paid the money back to the church. Sometimes smart men can be conned. This man did what was right but his intentions were never bad. But his judgment was bad. I do not know this pastor in this story but it is sad for both the church and the pastor.

I don't question the intentions of this brother for a second... let me say that on the outset...

Did the church know about the investment when he entered into it?

[Theresa]

Originally Posted by CC1

If this is all true he will not be the first pastor who got suckered into bad investments.

Many times it is with good intentions of helping the church make a big return on it's money.

I didn't get the feeling anywhere in the article that this guy was trying to personally profit from his actions. Just made some really stupid mistakes in investing and then as happens many times the really bad stuff started when he tried to cover it up.

His dad ought to be ashamed for telling the church they should just shut up and forgive him, not seek to know what happened. Good grief!!

I love my kids but I have never understood these kinds of parents. I have told my kids from an early age that if they do the crime they are gonna do the time!

totally what I was thinking....