Comment on Houston Pastor convicted in $3.6M fraud case returns to Church after prison release. "It's such a blessing to have our visionary pastor back at church. We are so excited."

SoupBrick@pawb.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

• UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  There’s only so much time in a day and so much “Do Your Own Research” anyone is going to have the background or the social connections to interrogate.

  If anything, the folks who tell themselves “I would never fall for this” are the most popular targets for affinity scams.

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  • SoupBrick@pawb.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Court documents alleged Caldwell, using his position at Houston’s Windsor Village Church, and a financial advisor sold $3.5 million in worthless pre-revolutionary Chinese bonds to the elderly and other vulnerable investors.

    This is why I put “blind” in bold. He was literally caught red handed defrauding the elderly. That is where the blindness of the congregation comes in. They choose to ignore the glaring breach of trust and allow him to retain his position of influence.

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    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      That is where the blindness of the congregation comes in.

      You’re dealing with a survivorship bias. Anyone who saw the fraud and was disgusted by the minister’s actions has left already.

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      • SoupBrick@pawb.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        So are the remaining people not turning a blind eye to the public documentation of his deceit because they have “faith” that he is the best person to lead them?

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    • a_wild_mimic_appears@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      where do you even dig up pre-revolution chinese bonds wtf

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