Pastor Marlon Gary Hibbert and his wife face 38 fraud charges after they allegedly scammed friends, family and members of their congregation out of more than $8.6 million “It’s very troubling,” financial crimes. “The victims believe in God, and the word they (the pastors) say, so they trusted and believed in them.”

Hibbert, 49, and his wife Verna Michelle Hibbert, 48, were arrested Thursday. Police allege the Hibberts scammed more than 200 investors out of millions over a period of six years.

The couple had run several churches, but most recently headed the Life Centre Word of Faith Ministries. Their congregation operated out of a rented space at Our Lady of Fatima School near St. Clair Ave. E. and Victoria Park Ave.

According to police, victims handed over inheritances, retirement funds and life savings to Hibbert, who told them he was “successful trader in foreign currencies.” Victims say they never saw a return on investment and were out hundreds of thousands of dollars. One family says they lost their home and was forced to move into a small rental apartment.

Hibbert allegedly told victims he would invest their money in a cluster of foreign companies to trade in securities and foreign exchange. He promised rates of return as high as 8.5 per cent. Hibbert has never been registered to trade in securities.

Regan says the Hibberts amassed a large fortune, which they funneled to Panama. She said the couple lived luxuriously, driving fast cars and living in a large home.Investors alerted the Ontario Securities Commission. The OSC investigated and ordered Hibbert to pay $5.6 million in fraud penalties.

So far police have identified 38 victims, who they say lost a total of $2.1 million.

The Hibberts, along with their church’s administrative assistant Lorraine Bahlmann, will appear in court Friday.
Bahlmann also faces 38 counts of fraud.

Just last year we learned of Ephren Taylor who had scammed dozens of people out of there life savings. This case seems similar to the actions of Taylor. Yet no criminal charges has never been filed on Taylor.

Mr. Taylor spoke at Eddie Long’s Atlanta church and reportedly scammed  several members of the church. Just days before Taylor was to speak Long’s office was notified of Taylor being a con artist.

Lawsuits are now pending against Eddie Long in that case.

Grammy nominee Mike Winans Jr., a R&B singer from Detroit, appears determined to fight his nearly 14-year prison sentence for a $8 million fraud scheme conviction.

Winans released Saturday to MLive Detroit in a video of his first comments since his Feb. 27 conviction after a judge ruled he reportedly defrauded more than 1,200 investors in a pyramid scheme that involved investment the oil industry.

Winans’ response in the video released to MLive includes news he hired a new defense team that hopes to get him re-sentenced based on the amount of losses they believe he’s responsible for. He’s the nephew of award-winning singers BeBe and CeCe Winans and also has a new song out called “My Side of the Story.”

“There have been a lot of things said about me that are just not true,” Mike Winans said. “And I want to clear some of those things up. I was charged with wire fraud, and on Feb. 27, 2013 I was sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison. There are numerous stories out there that claim I stole millions of dollars from innocent people. That is not true. Now, I’m not blameless. And I’m willing to take responsibility for my mistakes. But I am not willing to take responsibility for what others did in my name. Let it be clear: I did not start this investment. My name was used without my permission to solicit money by a lot of people – including Tim Hunt, the creator of the fraudulent oil investment.

“Much of the money that was collected by others that was supposedly going to me never even came to me. I didn’t even get the money. And if that’s not enough, to make matters worse, my attorney failed to do his job for me. He told me not to comment at all on the case – even though that I wanted to explain that I paid back a lot of people. My attorney … he failed to make an objection to the claim I was responsible for losses by people I didn’t know and money that I never even received. He failed to tell the court about the 75 percent – actually more than that – that I paid back to investors. And in order to do that, I had to use my own money from the music business at the time.

“So you have lots of people that I didn’t know making claims, sending in letters to the court when they actually gave their money to others and not to me. So because my attorney failed to represent me the correct way and present the evidence based upon the losses that I’m responsible for I was in turn sentenced on the losses caused by others. Again, he never told the court about the more than 75 percent of the money I paid back to the investors. And my huge prison sentence of more than 14 years , that’s a result of the court just not knowing the true facts.”

The Detroit Free Press reported that Winans, 30, was ordered by a judge to pay his victims $4.8 million in restitution. He claims in the video to have paid back at least 75 percent of the money owed to investors.

Winans pleaded guilty in October to wire fraud, but claims in the video posted below that others used his name without his permission to perform criminal acts.

Winans is a member of a legendary family from Detroit that’s no stranger to impacting the lives of others through music and spirituality.

Mike’s uncle,  Marvin Winans is a leader in the community and got beaten and carjacked in May.

The family relied on faith to get them through a troubling time.

“Now I have a new defense team that’s exploring all of my options, trying to get re-sentenced based on the amount of losses I’m responsible for and not those caused by others,” Mike Winans added in the video. “I’m asking you for the benefit of the doubt and also your prayers until all of the facts have been presented.”

You can listen to “My Side of the Story” in the player below.

What do you think of Winans’ response to his sentencing? Let us know in our comments section.

A senior pastor at The Church of Corinth was allegedly recorded in about two hours of audio files attempting to persuade a female juvenile to undress, read an arrest affidavit released Thursday morning.

Pastor Jeffrey Dale Williams was jailed on charges of attempted sexual performance by a child. Bond was set at $10,000.

“He tried to entice her to take her clothes off so he could see her naked body,” said Corinth police Capt. Greg Wilkerson.

According to the affidavit, Cpl. Jason Foutch received the audio files after responding to two complaints forwarded from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services on April 3, four days after the alleged act. In the files, Williams can be heard asking the female to undress so he can see “eye candy” despite the female’s pleas asking him to stop, the affidavit read. He allegedly used a chair to block the door as he talked with the female.

In a statement released by David Fink, a spokesman for the church, The Church of Corinth was not aware of the allegations previous to the arrest of the senior pastor.

“We have no knowledge of nor any reason to suspect any inappropriate behavior,” Fink said. “We intend to and will fully investigate the allegations, and we will fully cooperate with the authorities. Our prayers go out to this family of our church.”

The victim did later corroborate the audio tape and the incident.

“Man that’s just scary,” said Melissa Lain, who went to the church on rare occasions.

Wednesday night is when Church of Corinth holds a children’s service. Pastor Williams would not have been there for that; the youth pastor runs the service.

“I’m just flabbergasted,” said a church member who identified himself only as James. “There’s something totally strange here.”

Members told News 8 that Williams has been pastor at the church for several years.

“There may be an additional victim out there,” Wilkerson said. “We’re trying to contact her now.”

Williams was being held at the Denton County Jail.

The founding pastor of the world’s largest Pentecostal congregation is being indicted on charges of breach of trust for costing the church more than $9 million in a stock scheme gone awry.

Long-time broadcast anchor Amanda Davis Thursday night announced her retirement from WAGA-TV after more than 26 years at the station.

She did so in a message aired on the Fox 5 at 10 p.m. newscast.

“There have been awards, honors and accolades. There have also been challenges, disappointments and stumbles,” Davis told the audience at 10:14 p.m. Then paraphrasing Psalm 23:4, she said, “Yea, though I have walked through the valley, with God’s help, I made it through. And that’s what I want you to know. I am blessed. So it’s with a heavy heart that I announce now that I am officially retiring from Fox 5 as I look ahead to a new chapter in my life.”

Davis was arrested by Atlanta police Nov. 11 after she crashed her car going northbound in a southbound lane on Piedmont Ave. off 14th Street in Midtown, hitting and injuring another driver. She was charged with reckless driving, failure to maintain lane and DUI.

She was taken off the air and has been awaiting trial at Fulton County state court.

Davis, who has not submitted to any interviews since the arrest, did not mention the DUI case on air.

Co-anchor Russ Spencer (“My TV husband,” she said.) and meteorologist Ken Cook (she called “Cookie”), both long-time Fox 5 veterans as well, came up to her and offered their own accolades.

“We want to thank you for what you meant to us,” Spencer said. “We hope you know how much we love and appreciate you.”

They aired tributes from retired Channel 2 Action News anchor Monica Pearson, former Atlanta mayor and U.N. ambassador Andy Young and V-103 morning host Ryan Cameron. This was followed by a highlight reel of her time on the station her coverage of Coretta Scott King’s funeral, an interview with Pres. Barack Obama and her work with Wednesday’s Child, a weekly Fox 5 feature that helped place foster children into adopted homes.

“Wednesday’s Child became a labor of love for me,” she said. “I really felt like we as a station made a difference and it afforded me the opportunity to really connect with some young people and make their lives better.”