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
A Memphis pastor who was once pardoned by Tennessee’s governor was arrested this week in connection with a half-million-dollar theft. DeAndre Brown and his wife, Vinessa, were indicted on Tuesday for 12 counts of felony theft, according to Tennessee’s Office of the Comptroller of the Treasury. The Comptroller’s Office said that the Browns misappropriated at least $600,000 in funds through Lifeline to Success, a nonprofit that provides re-entry services for former convicts.| The Roys Report
A district court judge granted final approval Monday to a partial settlement for clergy and staffers of the African Methodist Episcopal Church after a substantial percentage of funds from their retirement plan were discovered to be missing. The historically Black denomination has been accused of mishandling the retirement funds, leaving many plan participants with about 30% of what they had hoped to use for retirement. The denomination accused its former retirement department head of embezzle...| The Roys Report
On the surface, 789 MacDonough Street is a glowing example of tenants becoming owners of their neglected building. The 41-unit, Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment house, built in 1930, began falling apart in the 1970s as the landlord essentially abandoned what was once a “beautiful, gorgeous building,” as longtime resident Lisa Lanier described it. The building was aging, its regulated rents were about $200 a month, and Bed-Stuy had become something of a war zone. “Do-or-die Bed-Stuy,” loca...| New York - The Real Deal