Michigan Megachurch Raises Over $8K to Help Victims of Largest Ponzi Scheme in State's History
A Michigan megachurch has raised approximately $8,500 to aid the victims of a Ponzi scheme orchestrated by a man who once donated some of his stolen money to the congregation.
Resurrection Life Church of Grandville gathered the sum via a special fund they created to aid the 800 some victims of David McQueen, who was behind a $46 million Ponzi scheme.
Although the $8,500 pales in comparison to the $300,000 of stolen money McQueen gave to Resurrection Life, John Agar of mlive.com noted that "it's better than what a lot of others have offered."
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"Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Borgula said in a letter to victims that the IRS and FBI have seized about $900,000 in assets during the course of the investigation. That money, however, will not be paid to victims before next year," reported Agar.
"The U.S. Department of Justice requires forfeited assets to be held until McQueen's appeal is completed. With many elderly victims, the U.S. Attorney's Office pushed for an exception to the Justice Department's policy and sought immediate return of assets …"
In May of 2014, McQueen was found guilty of money laundering and mail fraud as part of a Ponzi scheme that was considered one of the largest — if not the largest — in Michigan history.
Among the many things he did with the victims' money, McQueen donated approximately $300,000 to Resurrection Life over a span of a couple years.
Last November, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Borgula asked the church to return the stolen money, but his request was denied, according to John Agar of mlive.com.
"We were saddened to hear the news of his wrongdoing, and pray that God will work in his heart and life and bring repentance," read a letter by church leaders to Borgula, reported Agar.
"We have prayerfully considered your request that the church return all or part of this donor's gifts and tithe monies, and must respectfully decline to do so."
In April, Resurrection Life senior pastor Duane Vander Klok posted on Facebook an explanation for why his church refused to return the money, noting that the donations had all been used for various ministries.
"The orphanages, missionaries, even local businesses who actually received portions of that money have all long since put it to good use, and so have the businesses where they spent it, and so on," wrote Klok.
After explaining that Resurrection Life was unaware of the donations' dubious origin, Klok noted that a "special fund" would be created to help those wronged by McQueen.
"We are in the process of establishing a special fund account to benefit the investors who lost their funds," continued Klok.
"Our church community can donate to the account and all the monies received into that fund will be put toward the restoration of the investors' loss. An independent attorney will oversee the escrow fund and will coordinate with the U.S. Attorney for eventual distribution of all funds received to the victims."
Resurrection Life Church of Grandville, Michigan, did not return comment to The Christian Post by press time.
