US pastor accused of defrauding church members of $13 million after allegedly claiming God selected them to fund his enterprise

A 46-year-old pastor in Washington, United States, Cristian Popescu, has been indicted for allegedly defrauding members of his church of $13 million by way of a enterprise funding scheme.

According to federal prosecutors, Popescu, who leads Passion for Christ, a Christian congregation in Kirkland, allegedly advised church members that God had chosen them to put money into his firm, Followone Inc., a Bellevue-based startup he described as an e-commerce platform and social community.

Prosecutors claimed he misrepresented the corporate’s income, inventory worth and plans to be listed on Nasdaq to draw roughly 30 buyers.

At one level, he allegedly claimed the corporate was value $1.4 billion regardless of realizing it had little or no worth.

Popescu reportedly promised buyers positions on the corporate’s board in alternate for investments of $1 million and inspired some to withdraw cash from their retirement accounts and kids’s schooling financial savings.

Investigators alleged that he diverted buyers’ funds by way of shell corporations and fabricated invoices, transferring greater than $4.5 million into accounts belonging to himself and his relations.

He additionally allegedly paid himself over $1 million in wages between 2017 and 2024 and positioned his spouse on the corporate’s payroll, paying her roughly $300,000 regardless of claims that she carried out no work.

When some buyers demanded refunds, Popescu allegedly accused them of being possessed by evil spirits.

The pastor faces 10 counts of wire fraud and 5 counts of cash laundering. He was arraigned earlier than a federal courtroom in Seattle and launched below digital monitoring.

If convicted, he might withstand 20 years in jail for every wire fraud rely and 10 years for every cash laundering rely, alongside potential fines.