Tag Archives: con men

“Look, the Department of Education’s a big con job. So we have a Department of Education where people from Washington, D.C., who many in many cases don’t care about the kids out in the country, They don’t care about the farms and the farmer’s daughter and the father’s – farmer’s sons. We have a massive bureaucracy in Washington, D.C. “We …

The Daily Beast reports: Dr. Mehmet Oz could hold millions of dollars in investments in companies regulated by the federal agency Donald Trump has tapped him to lead. During his failed Senate run in 2022, the former talk show host reported tens of millions of dollars in investments in health care, medical technology and food companies, according to the Los …

The Christian Post reports: Pastor Steven Furtick’s multi-campus Elevation Church, headquartered in North Carolina, collected more than $108 million in tithes and offerings in 2023, as in-person church attendance soared to more than 17,000 worshipers weekly with three new campuses, according to the megachurch’s 2023 annual report. The church, which withdrew its affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention last summer, …

The Christian Post reports: Nearly five years after he claimed to renounce the prosperity gospel, declaring that the “Holy Ghost is just fed up with it,” controversial televangelist Benny Hinn said the world is on a collision course with its darkest days ever, and only those who give money to the Lord’s work will be protected financially. “Well, listen, I …

The Christian Post reports: Televangelist and prosperity gospel preacher Jesse Duplantis, who has an estimated net worth of around $20 million, has called poverty a “curse” and says his wealth — which includes a private jet and a 40,000-square-foot mansion in Louisiana — comes from being “blessed” by God. “Let me give you a prime example why I don’t care …

The Christian Post reports: Panganai Java, the flamboyant Zimbabwe-born but Maryland-based preacher better known as Prophet Passion Java, finances his lavish lifestyle by preaching the prosperity gospel and charging his followers $555 for phone calls. Passion Java is well known for wearing expensive designer clothing and driving high-performance sports cars while attracting scrutiny from Prophets and Watches. His Instagram account …

Miami’s ABC affiliate reports: A Florida man and his three sons were convicted on federal fraud charges Wednesday for marketing a poisonous bleach concoction as a cure for 95% of the world’s diseases, including COVID-19. Mark Grenon, 65, and his sons, 37-year-old Jonathan, 35-year-old Joseph and 29-year-old Jordan, were all charged with conspiring to defraud the U.S. and deliver misbranded …

Raw Story reports: Steve Bannon showed up in E. Palestine on Tuesday to comfort victims of a recent train derailment by offering them coupons for $80 off water filtration systems. At his “town hall” event in E. Palestine, Bannon claimed that the town had been “abandoned” by the Biden administration while he praised former President Donald Trump’s visit. Bannon used …

The Kansas City Star reports: Following claims from a Missouri pastor that prayer regrew a woman’s amputated toes, a new website is asking for proof. Without showing photo or video evidence, James River Church pastor John Lindell told his congregation a “creative miracle” took place involving a woman named Krissy Thompson. Video from the conference has been removed from the …

The Christian Post reports: Controversial televangelist and prosperity preacher Peter Popoff, who amassed millions of dollars through his ministry hawking “debt cancelation” and healing “miracle water” advertised as a “powerful biblical point of contact,” is now selling his California mansion for $8.1 million. “Situated on 2.27 acres of stunning manicured grounds offering privacy plus stunning mountain & city light views,” …

The New York Times reports: In late 2021, as he prepared to make a second run for a suburban New York City House seat, George Santos gave permission for his campaign to commission a routine background study on him. Campaigns frequently rely on this kind of research, known as vulnerability studies, to identify anything problematic that an opponent might seize …

Mediaite reports: It’s just another day in the ongoing saga of Rep. George Santos (R-NY), the freshman congressman who is currently living a real-life Catch Me If You Can reboot no one asked for. On Friday, the Twitter account PatriotTakes tweeted a clip of Santos from 2019 at a “Walk Away LGBT” event in New York. “So, my name’s Anthony …

CNN reports: Republican Rep. George Santos, said a company later accused of running a “Ponzi scheme” was “100% legitimate” when it was accused by a potential customer of fraud in 2020, more than a year before it was sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Once the company, where he worked, came under federal scrutiny, Santos claimed publicly that …

The Christian Post reports: Pastor David E. Taylor of Joshua Media Ministries International, who was once deposed for corruption, has purchased an $8.3 million mansion in Tampa, Florida, from Tampa Bay Buccaneers co-owner Darcie Glazer Kassewitz and her husband. The mansion, which has a 28,893-square-foot main house and a 2,620-square-foot guest house, was purchased with a $4.9 million mortgage from …

Posted today to Franklin Graham’s Facebook page: All 21 people—18 passengers and three crew—miraculously escaped without serious injuries after the private plane they were in crashed, rolled through a fence, and burst into flames Tuesday morning near Houston, TX. The McDonnell Douglas MD-87 jet was about to depart on the way to Boston. Ronald Walker, the Texas Emergency Management District …

The Daily Beast reports: A Houston megachurch, whose celebrity pastor is reportedly worth $50 million, has repaid the federal government $4.4 million in pandemic loans after going viral for the outrageous handout. Lakewood Church, which is tax-exempt like most religious institutions, took $4.4 million in taxpayer-funded Paycheck Protection Program loans at the height of the COVID pandemic last year—all while …

The Daily Beast reports: Hurricane Ida’s Northeast floods and tornadoes showed the visual reality of climate change, including at the headquarters of the “truth-seeking” organization Project Veritas. The setback comes amid a damaging year for Project Veritas, which runs undercover stings in an effort to catch journalists or liberal figures saying embarrassing things. Twitter banned both Project Veritas and O‘Keefe …

Nashville’s NBC News affiliate reports: Ty and Charlene Bollinger’s anti-vaccine empire has created such widespread criticism, accused of making millions off vaccine disinformation, that major media platforms have blocked their content. “It’s almost every social media account as well. We’ve been flagged, shut down. Deplatformed. They take us off and put us up again,” said Ty Bollinger, standing on the …

From the American Family Association’s OneNewsNow: Robert Jeffress believes high-profile Christians are a special target of Satan. “First of all, nobody should rejoice in the downfall of another person. We should be praying for Jerry, his family, [and] for the Liberty University family as a whole,” Dr. Jeffress begins. “Secondly, we need to remember that none of us is immune …

The Friendly Atheist has the transcript: CALLER LISA: My question is regarding demon possession. Can babies be possessed, and if so, does the Age of Accountability come into play for salvation? ROBERTSON: I just believe if that child is born to a family of devil worshipers, there’s a real possibility that the devil will think that he has a claim …