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As Christianity Today online assistant editor Rob Moll was putting the final touches on this month's cover story ("The Fraudbuster"), word came of yet another church-based scam.

Rejoice Ministries, a tiny church in Willmar, Minnesota, lost its pastor. He just disappeared—with $3,344 of the church's money.

"James Poole" had recently accepted the job, then asked for a salary advance to help with rent, a down payment, a new bathtub, and other expenses. He got the money, preached one Sunday, then skipped town.

The story gets even worse, but we'll save that for another day. The point is, every few days, Moll reads a story like this. "It's a heartbreaker," he says. "People who have their money stolen generally can't afford to have their money stolen."

It's not always the little old lady in the pew. In 2003, major charismatic evangelists Benny Hinn, Marilyn Hickey, and Reinhard Bonnke were taken in by a Ponzi scheme called IPIC International. Greg Setser has been charged with defrauding them and other Christians of more than $160 million.

Even Christianity Today has been suckered by such groups. That's how Moll first became acquainted with Barry Minkow and his unique ministry with the Fraud Discovery Institute. Moll interviewed Minkow while reporting how a gold coin reseller who had advertised in our magazine and other Christian publications scammed investors out of $5 million (see "Fools' Gold," July 2004). "How come you're not doing more on this?" Minkow asked. "This is a major problem."

It may be one of the biggest untold stories on the religion beat. Minkow says he has personally uncovered more than $1 billion in church-based scams and other fraud targeting Christians. In a year. His research has convinced him that this is but a fraction of the problem.

By comparison, the recent abuse lawsuits in the Roman Catholic Church—which have received huge media attention—have so far cost dioceses only $772 million nationally.

Rob came to Christianity Today via the Christian Citizen newspaper in Dayton, Ohio, and the Grayslake Times (Ill.). At the Times, he covered business, crime, "and everything else." Sifting through all the stories of fraud, he says, reminds him of his weekly trips to the Grayslake police station to read through the blotter.

Moll has his own clip file for fraud stories, but the story is so common that CT's daily Weblog, which Moll helps to compile, usually has enough for its own section of crime articles.

But Rob is too busy to be a man obsessed. As online assistant editor, he's also reporting on the news of the day, such as rounding up Christian reactions to the death of Yasser Arafat. At home, though, he's more likely to sit with a giant history book (currently, George Marsden's biography of Jonathan Edwards) than with a newspaper. When he really needs a break from bad news, he's the 1870s blacksmith at the local living history museum. So would-be scammers would do well to avoid Rob. If anyone knows that all that glitters is not gold, it's a history-minded smith with a nose for news.

Next Issue: The behemoth of benevolence: World Vision; The 9.5 theses of worship; and why multiracial churches are multi-needed.

Copyright © 2005 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

The Rejoice Ministries fraud, mentioned in this article, was actually the second time the church was conned.

The Fraudbuster | The faithful are being defrauded of billions. But this Ponzi-busting ex-con knows how to stop it.

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January 2005, Vol. 49, No. 1