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Greater Ministries International
Greater Ministries International was an Evangelical Christian ministry that ran a Ponzi scheme in an affinity fraud that had taken nearly 500 million dollars from 18,000 people by the time it was shut down by federal authorities in August 1999. Headed by Gerald Payne in Tampa, Florida, the ministry bribed church leaders around the United States. Payne and other church elders promised the church members double their money back in 17 months or fewer, citing Biblical scripture. However, nearly all the money was lost and hidden away. Church leaders received prison sentences ranging from 12 years to 27 years. The group had ties to Stayton, Oregon-based Embassy of Heaven, run by Glen Stoll, which was later closed by the Justice Department. Their group founded a newspaper, the "Greater Bible College" in Tampa, a line of "Greater Live" herbal remedies, cancer treatments ("We actually pull the cancer right out of your stomach", Payne claimed.), a supplement called "Beta 1, 3rd Glucan" (to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual experiences personal conversion; the authority of the Bible as God's revelation to humanity (biblical inerrancy); and spreading the Christian message. The word ''evangelical'' comes from the Greek (''euangelion'') word for " good news". Its origins are usually traced to 1738, with various theological streams contributing to its foundation, including Pietism and Radical Pietism, Puritanism, Quakerism, Presbyterianism and Moravianism (in particular its bishop Nicolaus Zinzendorf and his community at Herrnhut).Brian Stiller, ''Evangelicals Around the World: A Global Handbook for the 21st Century'', Thomas Nelson, USA, 2015, pp. 28, 90. Preeminently, John Wesley and other early Methodists were at the root of sparking this new movement during the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stayton, Oregon
Stayton is a city in Marion County, Oregon, Marion County, Oregon, United States, located southeast of the state Capital (political), capital, Salem, Oregon, Salem, on Oregon Route 22. It is south of Sublimity, Oregon, Sublimity and east of Aumsville, Oregon, Aumsville. Located on the North Santiam River, Stayton is a regional agricultural and light manufacturing center. The population was 7,644 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Established in 1872, it was incorporated in 1891. Stayton is part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Stayton was founded by Drury Smith Stayton, who purchased the town site in 1866 and built a carding mill and sawmill on a watercourse of the North Santiam River. In 1872, he platted the town site, and that same year the community received a post office. A ferry crossing of the Santiam River operated from 1876 until a bridge was constructed in 1888. By 1880, a laundry had been established by Kee Sing and Tom. The first newspape ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk shows, investigative reports, documentaries, infomercials, reality shows, and other programs at all other times. Along with Fox Business and Bloomberg Television, it is one of the three major business news channels. It also operates a website and mobile apps, whereby users can watch the channel via streaming media, and which provide some content that is only accessible to paid subscribers. CNBC content is available on demand on smart speakers including Amazon Echo devices with Amazon Alexa, Google Home and app devices with Google Assistant, and on Apple Siri voice interfaces including iPhones. Many CNBC TV shows are available as podcasts for on-demand listening. Graphics are designed by Sweden-based Magoo 3D studios. CNBC is a divisi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Greed
''American Greed'' (also known as ''American Greed: Scams, Scoundrels and Scandals'' and as ''American Greed: Scams, Schemes and Broken Dreams'') is an American documentary television series on CNBC. The series focuses on cases of Ponzi schemes, embezzlement and other white collar crimes and features interviews with police investigators, fraud victims and sometimes fraudsters. It was initially created by Mark Hoffman, the President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Directors of CNBC, and it is produced by Bill Kurtis' Kurtis Productions. The program is narrated by Stacy Keach Jr., who was recruited because Kurtis himself was unavailable for that purpose. It premiered on June 21, 2007. Subjects The business-reality program focuses on the stories behind high-profile corporate and white-collar crimes, betrayals, and scams in American history, including the financial scandals involving WorldCom, HealthSouth, Tyco International, and CyberNET. Besides these high-profi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater Ministries Int'l / It Takes A Thief
Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 *Greater Bank, an Australian bank *Greater Media Greater Media, Inc., known as Greater Media, was an American media company that specialized in radio stations. The markets where they owned radio stations included Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Charlotte, and the state of New Jersey. The compa ..., an American media company See also * * {{Disambiguation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was founded in 1863 as the weekly ''Seattle Gazette'', and was later published daily in broadsheet format. It was long one of the city's two daily newspapers, along with ''The Seattle Times'', until it became an online-only publication on March 18, 2009. History J.R. Watson founded the ''Seattle Gazette'', Seattle's first newspaper, on December 10, 1863. The paper failed after a few years and was renamed the ''Weekly Intelligencer'' in 1867 by new owner Sam Maxwell. In 1878, after publishing the ''Intelligencer'' as a morning daily, printer Thaddeus Hanford bought the ''Daily Intelligencer'' for $8,000. Hanford also acquired Beriah Brown's daily ''Puget Sound Dispatch'' and the weekly ''Pacific Tribune'' and folded both papers into the ''Inte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Department Of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United States. It is equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries. The department is headed by the U.S. attorney general, who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the president's Cabinet. The current attorney general is Merrick Garland, who was sworn in on March 11, 2021. The modern incarnation of the Justice Department was formed in 1870 during the Ulysses S. Grant presidency. The department comprises federal law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It also has eight major divisions of lawyers who rep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Embassy Of Heaven
The Embassy of Heaven is a Christian-based new religious movement based in Stayton, Oregon, that seeks to separate from secular government. Its members profess to be literal citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven and reject any ties to what they refer to as "worldly governments". The organization issues its own identity documents (including passports and driver's licenses), business licenses, motor vehicle title certificates, and license plates. The group's leader is Craig Douglas Fleshman, a former Oregon state computer systems analyst who goes by the name "Pastor Paul Revere”. Another individual who has been associated with the organization in the past is Glen Stoll, an individual who "falsely hold himself out to be a 'lawyer' and claims to have spent considerable time studying the tax laws" but who "is not a member of or licensed with any state or federal bar." The Anti-Defamation League has identified the Embassy of Heaven group as being part of the sovereign citizen movement. Fede ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a variety of forms originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek. These texts include instructions, stories, poetry, and prophecies, among other genres. The collection of materials that are accepted as part of the Bible by a particular religious tradition or community is called a biblical canon. Believers in the Bible generally consider it to be a product of divine inspiration, but the way they understand what that means and interpret the text can vary. The religious texts were compiled by different religious communities into various official collections. The earliest contained the first five books of the Bible. It is called the Torah in Hebrew and the Pentateuch (meaning ''five books'') in Greek; the second oldest part was a coll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the County seat, seat of Hillsborough County, Florida, Hillsborough County. With a population of 384,959 according to the 2020 census, Tampa is the third-most populated city in Florida after Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville and Miami and is the List of United States cities by population, 52nd most populated city in the United States. Tampa functioned as a military center during the 19th century with the establishment of Fort Brooke. The cigar industry was also brought to the city by Vicente Martinez Ybor, Vincente Martinez Ybor, after whom Ybor City is named. Tampa was formally reincorporated as a city in 1887, following the American Civil War, Civil War. Today, Tampa's economy is driven by tourism, health care, finance, insurance, tec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late September 1913 by the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith, a Jewish service organization, in the wake of the contentious murder conviction of Leo Frank. ADL subsequently split from B'nai B'rith and continued as an independent US section 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Jonathan Greenblatt, a former Silicon Valley tech executive and former Obama administration official, succeeded Abraham Foxman as national director in July 2015. Foxman had served in the role since 1987. ADL headquarters are located in Murray Hill, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The ADL has 25 regional offices in the United States including a Government Relations Office in Washington, DC, as well as an office in Israel and staff in Europe. In its 2019 annual information Form 99 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Affinity Fraud
Affinity fraud is a form of investment fraud in which the fraudster preys upon members of identifiable groups, such as religious or ethnic communities, language minorities, the elderly, or professional groups. The fraudsters who promote affinity scams frequently are – or successfully pretend to be – members of the group. They often enlist respected community or religious leaders from within the group to spread the word about the scheme, by convincing those people that a fraudulent investment is legitimate and worthwhile. Many times, those leaders become unwitting victims of the fraudster's ruse. These scams involve exploitation of the trust and friendship that exist in groups of people who have something in common. Because of the tight-knit structure of many groups, it can be difficult for regulators or law enforcement officials to detect an affinity scam. Victims often fail to notify authorities or pursue legal remedies, and instead try to work things out within the group. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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