A Tulsa County jury has recommended that an Oklahoma couple serve an 18-year prison sentence for stealing more than half-million dollars from a faith-based nonprofit addiction recovery program. Jordan Blake Parker, 40, and Vanessa Parker, 30, of Pryor, were each convicted Sept. 25 of two counts of embezzlement and one count of pattern criminal offenses. The jury assessed the maximum punishment for each count, totaling 18 years imprisonment and $45,000 in fines. Online records show the Parkers...| The Roys Report
A South Carolina church secretary has been charged with misusing more than $10,000 of the church’s money. Her arrest follows just months after the church, a 156-year-old community landmark, was destroyed by fire. Jennifer Dixon-Hooks managed finances at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Darlington, South Carolina, according to WBTW-TV Ch 13 in Myrtle Beach. On Tuesday, Hooks was arrested and charged with breach of trust greater than $10,000, the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office said in a...| The Roys Report
Eight leaders of a Georgia-based church have been indicted for swindling more than $30 million from multiple banks and an untold number of U.S. veterans. The widespread fraud scheme was operated for decades by leaders of the House of Prayer Christian Churches of America (HOPCC), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia in a press release. The leaders allegedly targeted members of the U.S. military for indoctrination and then “exercised extreme control” to gain mon...| The Roys Report
It seems like a great redemption story: A pastor who stole thousands of dollars not from one—but two churches—spent years in restoration and restitution, then made a new start. This was the case when Jeff Countryman went public about a saga that led him from pastoring churches to practicing repentance. Five years ago, he returned to full-time ministry, and for the last three years served as campus pastor of the Land O’ Lakes location for the Tampa-area Grace Family Church.| The Roys Report
